


Hidden Away

by NanamiChiLovesYou



Category: Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Body Horror, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Minor Character Death, Monsters, Morally Neutral Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morally Neutral Deceit Sanders, Morally Neutral Logic | Logan Sanders, One-Sided Attraction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Slow Burn, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-01-30 12:08:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 45,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21427978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanamiChiLovesYou/pseuds/NanamiChiLovesYou
Summary: Logan rolls his eyes. "Welcome back", as if he could ever leave this place. No, the only way to leave after entering is dying. Not even those who retire can leave. But, well, he isn't going to complain. He knew what was coming the moment he got accepted for this job. Whether he dies from an abnormality, by the hands of another, or by the hands of nature, he would die inside of this building.But he has already accepted this.--This is a Lobotomy Corp AU! You don't have to play the game to read this, but knowing the basic idea and mechanics would help you understand what's happening better. Some things have been changed to fit with my narrative more.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 39
Kudos: 66





	1. O-01-62(H)

**Author's Note:**

> TWS FOR THIS CHAPTER  
\- Body Horror  
\- Guns/Gun Violence  
\- Minor Character Death  
\- References to depression  
\- Implied mutation  
\- Implied trauma
> 
> Alot of these themes will get worse as the story progresses, so please put yourself first if any of these bother you!
> 
> Please do tell me if I missed anything!

** _> Please insert Passcode_ **

** _> ********_ **

** _> Processing…_ **

** _> ..._ **

** _> Welcome Back to Lobotomy Corp, LOGAN_ **

** _> You have 2 new messages. Would you like to read them?_ **

** _>YES_ **

** _>Understood. Loading…_ **

** _> "4:42 AM, message from A._ **

** _Greetings, Logan. As you are well aware, we have finally captured our newest abnormality. As we are not yet sure what it is capable of, we have given you the proper information and materials to help you not die when entering it's containment. _ **

** _Thank you, good luck. Your information will be sent shortly."_ **

** _> "4:44 AM, message from IT computer._ **

** _Newest abnormality._ **

** _Name: Currently Unknown._ **

** _Identification Code: O-01-62(H)_ **

** _Basic Information: Unknown. _ **

** _Found in a highly wooded area. Is not fond of employees. _ **

** _It's danger level is HE. _ **

** _This abnormality is capable of containment breach._ **

** _This abnormality is capable of employee alteration. _ **

** _Qliphoth Counter: ???_ **

** _Attack Type: ???_ **

** _Abnormality Work Favor_ **

** _Instinct: TBD_ **

** _Insight: TBD_ **

** _Attachment: TBD_ **

** _Repression: TBD_ **

** _Origins Unknown."_ **

* * *

  
  


Logan rolls his eyes.  _ "Welcome back" _ , as if he could ever leave this place. No, the only way to leave after entering is dying. Not even those who retire can leave. But, well, he isn't going to complain. He knew what was coming the moment he got accepted for this job. Whether he dies from an abnormality, by the hands of another, or by the hands of nature, he would die inside of this building. 

But he has already accepted this. 

Swiping his hand, the messages are stocked away for later. He stands still for a moment, looking around the room he was given in this prison of a workplace. 

It wasn't bad, really. Patton had complained about it being too bland for his tastes- and he could see why. The walls were a blue-grey and the floors were hard and cold. You were allowed to decorate, but he only thought to grab what he absolutely needed when he was accepted for this job. Of course, he has a few items of sentimental value, but his dorm looks more like a prison cell than a room someone would live in. Not to mention the only windows in this damned place show projections. He knows this is the life he chose, but he wonders often when he'll get depressed from the lack of sunlight. Or when he'll go insane from the sanity drain of the abnormalities. Or when he'll get killed for making the wrong move. 

Maybe he's already depressed. He wishes he could change the color. As much as he loves blue, he knows that bright colors would help better with his mental state, even if he prefers cool colors. Maybe he could convince A to let him order some things. Patton would like that, too. And… Roman.

...

He sighs, adjusting his glasses and straightening his tie, slowly standing from his office chair and walking to the door. Pressing his hand to the sensor, the mechanical doors open for him, and he makes his way into the hallway, where plenty of other dorms are. Most dorms are meant to hold 2 or more people, but since Logan was the best human on his team, he got special privileges. He walks to the elevator, going down into the large building where the information team is settled. 

The building is absolutely massive. With the dorms, offices, and the apothecaries scattered on the top floors, while the abnormalities stay underground. There were the employee containment cells as well, when one of the workers lose their sanity from an abnormality. There's the morgue, and the body chute. That's self explanatory. There's the lobbies on the different floors for the separate teams. They did a good job at making it look like a nice environment. It's horrible, though.

The elevator finally slows to a stop, the elevator shaking as the heavy doors open. He steps out into the Information Team lobby, seeing coworkers hanging around, waiting for their next tasks, and others rushing to and fro. Some coming back from their abnormality work, and others wearing fake courage as they go to collect more information. 

Logan ignores it all though. He has a job assigned to him. And so, he walks out into the long hallway, brushing past other employees and reading the signs before stopping at the mechanical door labeled  _ O-01-62(H) _ . He's not exactly sure what to expect. He makes sure he has everything on him before he enters. Notepad, information file, gun… He should be set. 

He raises his hand, letting the door scan him. The light blinks green, and the heavy door opens. He enters the containment to see the abnormality waiting for him with a smile. It isn't the first time he's seen one waiting for him with a smile. Won't be the last either. 

The subject in front of him wasn't the most outrageous he's ever seen, though. In fact, it was rather tame compared to most of the others. What seemed to be a normal man covered in emerald scales. A snake eye, large claws, and some lizard like anatomy in his legs, as well as a long scaled tail. He had a longer neck, that was a little strange to see on someone so humanlike- but Logan is used to this stuff already. He wore nice clothes, and it reminded Logan of one of the other abnormalities. 

"My, my, it's rude to stare." He smirks, showing fangs. Logan simply ignores it, taking out his notepad to start writing. 

"Not a talker? How boring. First I'm kidnapped, and my kidnappers aren't even social." He dawls, resting a hand on his head. Logan briefly wonders where the extra limbs came from. But, he rolls his eyes. Kidnapping. As if Logan himself wasn't a victim in this thing too. 

"You're rather calm compared to the last one. Have you been here longer? More used to the freaks here? Well, I suppose compared to Remus-" Logan's eyes widen slightly. 

"How do you know about the other abnormalities? That information is classified, and you're not even allowed to see them." Logan stares. 

"Oh so that got your attention? I have no idea what you're talking about, though! I never said anything." The abnormality giggles, snake eye glowing. And even though Logan  _ knows _ that it's lying, for some reason, his brain wants him to believe it. He shakes his head, writing that down in his notes. He would not let himself panic. 

"So you're a liar." Logan notes aloud. The abnormality laughs. 

"Ohh, so smart. Wow, Logan, you must be a genius~! Are you gonna get a gold star for making such a good guess?" He smirks, stepping dangerously close to the yellow line. Logan's grip tightens on his pen ever so slightly, but he stays in his spot, writing down his notes. 

"Just continue talking and this can be over with." Logan sighs, and the abnormality smirks, pacing around on its side of the room. 

"Oh, you think you're safe once you get out of here? You took me from my home and keeping me in this room so I never see the light of day. If I escape, I'll be killed. And for what reason?" It steps forward, straightening its posture. "Because I'm not normal? Not human? I feel like I'm in the right to want revenge. What's next? Will you chain me down? Will you poison me? Tie me up? Burn me? I'd love to see you try."

Logan shifts slightly. The progress isn't going well. He needs it to go well. It has to go well. He cannot let himself drain. 

"... You're right to feel like this." Logan says, and the reptile laughs, throwing its head back.

"Oh, that's a lie! Logan, you just want to get on my good side so you'll have a shiny sparkling reputation! It's no use lying to me. I can see everything." The snake smirks, eye glowing. 

Shit, this isn't going well. Logan grits his teeth, finishing up his notes and turning to leave. 

"Don't think you're safe just because you can leave this containment." It states, watching as Logan leaves without another word. 

The moment he steps out and the doors lock, he sees employees with their weapons out, chasing after another employee whom failed with an abnormality. Typical. 

The man was screaming, clawing at his hair and face, spouting nonsense and hurting others. And Logan doesn't hesitate to do his job. So without any second thoughts, he pulls out his gun, and shoots the man. It takes 3 shots before the screams go quiet. There's a beat of silence, before employees either go back to work, or go to their respective lobbies to try and not think about their dead coworker. 

It was another thing Logan had grown used to, as horrible as it sounds. If an employee breaks, they cannot hurt others and damage any work. It disrupts the order. Really, he's doing a favor putting the poor souls out of their misery. He's just glad that panicked employee didn't murder anyone this time. 

"Aw, what the fuck! He was a newbie you guys!" An AI shouts. One from one of the other departments. He looks over to the employee being reprimanded by… Remy, he believes. The AIs were strange. A was the only AI here that was not programmed with emotion. The others are… uncomfortably human. So much so that Logan often forgets that they're not real. Remy rants, dragging away the dead body past Logan, a trail of blood following behind. He blinks simply, going to his next task. 

The day continues as normal. Or as normal as it can get here. Talking with abnormalities has become normal. He isn't attached to any of them, but a few seem to like him. He's not sure why. He's not the kindest on the team. He's horrible with attachment work as well. One reason he's not allowed to even go near some of the others. If he did, he'd die. Simple as that. 

He finishes up his insight work with  _ O-01-92(T)  _ feeling oddly refreshed. He did come in at a good time, he supposes- she was in her smiling state. He looks down, seeing his next assignment, which was to talk with  _ O-01-62(H) _ again. He purses his lips. Everything has been going fine so far, he believes he can do this, get information, send it to A and then he can better deal with it. He takes a deep breath, brushing down his jacket and getting to work. He walks down the long hallways until he once again reaches the room. 

"Back already, Logan?" It smiles, pacing back and forth. Logan simply sighs. Better to just get it over with, he supposes. 

"Yes, and we both know why."

"Really? Truly, I have no idea why. Care to elaborate for me?" He smiles, looking at his long claws. Logan stares for a moment, before sighing.

"I am simply here to gather information about you to better understand you and keep you under surveillance and contained." He states, straightening his posture. 

"I must be a real threat." He snarls. 

"That you are." Logan says, missing the sarcasm. "Normal people cannot know of your existence as well as any of the others if they want to live a happy life. They'd be ignorant, but at least they would not be living in fear." 

The snake stares, unimpressed. "And your employees?"

"They know and accept the dangers that await them. If they're afraid, they should have not signed up for this job." He shrugs. The abnormality laughs. 

"Perhaps you're right! This job did  _ a lot  _ of good for Virgil!" He slams his fist against the wall.

"... It didn't do Virgil any good. He simply wasn't ready." 

The snake stares. "Yes, as I said… And you and the others let him turn into another  _ freak _ to keep in captivity." 

Logan shifts uncomfortably. This abnormality shouldn't know about the others. How does he know all of this? How does he know what happened to Virgil? He takes a breath, adjusting his glasses. 

"That's neither here nor there. Right now, I need to gather information about you. Surely you want me out of here as soon as possible, correct?"

"Oh, of course not, Logan. I just looove seeing your face in this bland bland room. In fact, I'd love to talk to you some more! I'm sure there's so many interesting things to learn all about you." The snake spews out those words, sickly sweet on his tongue, acting as if the sugar of the words made him sick. "If you couldn't tell, that was a lie. This is dreadfully boring."

"... Right." Logan shakes his head, writing this all down in his notebook. The abnormality taps his claws against the metal walls. For a few seconds, the only sounds were the metal taps and the scribbling sound of pencil on paper. He still finds it strange how he has to write on paper when they've got so much advanced technology in this place. But that's besides the point. After he writes down the subjects behavior and general personality, he looks up. 

"... If it's alright with me asking, are you cold blooded? You are very reptilian in appearance, so I'm just curious. And, if you get a nicer employee, they could accommodate your needs. If you're lucky, anyway." He starts, stopping himself short from rambling. The abnormality is silent before speaking. 

"No, I- Yes, I am cold blooded. I cannot blink with my left eye. I have a forked tongue. But I am also different in certain aspects. But I don't feel like telling you. Have I satisfied your curiosity, smart guy?" He raises an eyebrow. 

"Fascinating." He whispers, so quiet that the snake barely hears it as the employee writes it all down. He'd still need to learn about the abnormality's backstory and abilities, but for now these will do, and he can hopefully trade in his information to A later today. 

He's snapped out of his thoughts though when the lights flash red a few times. The abnormality smiles, looking up. Logan doesn't leave. He's not allowed to when he's working with an abnormality. 

"Seems a certain itsy bitsy spider is having a meltdown." The snake states. Logan purses his lips. How the abnormality knows all of this, he isn't sure. But hopefully he will know soon enough. He hardly notices that his time is up. It's strange- this went alot better than last time, and seemingly quicker, too. He would have thought the abnormality would try to rip out his throat, but he isn't complaining. 

"Time's up already? Well, I'm sure you're needed elsewhere, little lamb." He laughs menacingly. "But don't worry, doll. I'm not going anywhere."

"Of course you're not going anywhere. There's nowhere else you can go. So, I'm not worried." And with that, he leaves the containment, making sure to lock the metal door behind him. 

The day went a lot faster than he had realized. It was already time to clock out. He sees employees and agents leaving to soon be replaced with guards. And he's never seen them himself, but supposedly the deliverers to bring the abnormalities food. But, he doesn't wait around. He doesn't have to go to his dorm room, yet, so he wanders to the Control Team, seeing Roman reluctantly leave the room belonging to  _ F-06-54(W) _ , or Remus. Roman's very own brother. Though A didn't name him Remus, instead calling him 'The Duke'. 

Roman hated that they wouldn't call him by his actual name. Patton hated it too. Virgil was slowly being forgotten as 'Virgil'. And Remus was only known by Roman- the others only having vague stories and experiences prior to his… corruption. Logan stares, Roman quickly spotting him and putting on a dashing smile. It was hard to believe he was an employee here. At least Patton's job as a nurse made more sense- but Roman didn't seem like the type for this job at all. But he was surprisingly good. The abnormalities that favor attachment absolutely love Roman. And of course, he has never been purposefully hurt by Remus. In fact, Remus would probably meltdown and kill anyone that  _ wasn't _ Roman. 

Roman walks over, rubbing his arm. 

"Rough day? You seem tired." He points out, swaying slightly as he walks.

"Do I? I hadn't noticed. We have a new abnormality, and… he's difficult. Not the worst I've dealt with, though." He shrugs. "Mostly… confusing."

Roman pats him on the back, maybe a bit too hard, but he doesn't seem to notice Logan's discomfort. "Specs? Confused by something? Unheard of! Surely you'll get it, bud! You're the best on your team, after all!" He smiles, pulling his hand away and swaying his arms as he walks with Logan. 

"Oh, shut up." He rolls his eyes, sorting his papers. 

"Say, are you hungry? Patton wanted to meet for dinner! I know you're a busy guy and all, but we can't have you passing out on us." He hums, looking over with hope in his eyes.

Logan opens his mouth to protest, but slowly realizes he hasn't eaten at all today. He was so absorbed in doing his work that he didn't think about actually using his lunch break. He sighs. "I suppose you're right. How irresponsible of me. As soon as I finish, I'm going to file my subject reports, though."

"Okay! Not gonna stop you. But let's not make Patty cake wait!" Roman laughs, taking Logan's hand and dragging him to the elevator, making him stumble over his own feet and curse under his breath. The brunette laughs, and the two are on their way. 

In containment  _ O-01-62(H) _ , when all the lights are out, he changes his form, stretching out his now human fingers. 

In the dark, his glasses catch the faint red light of the exit sign. 

And he smiles.

* * *

** _>..._ **

** _>... Information Sent!_ **

** _> Thank you for your hard work, LOGAN. A report on O-01-62(H) will be written based on your information and be sent to you shortly._ **

** _> Thank you, valued employee! _ **


	2. Rigor Samsa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs for this chapter!
> 
> \- Body horror  
\- Lots of talk of death  
\- Descriptions of pain  
\- Blood  
\- The feeling of not being alone  
\- Dissociation  
\- Hallucinations  
\- Guns  
\- Threatening  
\- Kinda Unsympathetic Logan  
\- Near Death Experience
> 
> Please do tell me if I missed anything!

** _> Opening information…_ **

** _> …_ **

** _> Done! _ **

** _> _ ** ** _ABNORMALITY BASIC INFORMATION_ **

** _Name: Deceit_ **

** _Classification Code: O-01-62, HE_ **

** _Attack Type: WHITE 3-5_ **

** _E-Box Output: 16_ **

** _Emotional Output_ **

** _Good ………..... 13 - 16_ **

** _Neutral ………..... 8 - 12_ **

** _Bad …………. 0 - 7_ **

** _Managerial Tips 1_ **

** _Can manipulate employees with golden eye, making them believe everything said. The best way to avoid this that we know of at the moment is to avoid eye contact. _ **

** _More information to be learned. Possible construction into developing an irremovable eyepatch is being discussed._ **

* * *

Its night. Not that you'd be able to tell. The only way to see what time it could possibly be would be the clocks. But it doesn't matter when you can't even see the sky. Abnormalities weren't given clocks. Remus would smash his and eat the shards. The ticking made Virgil anxious. Of course, not all of them reacted in the same ways, but just to not cause any problems, clocks were kept outside of the containment cells. 

The building is incredibly quiet. Eerily so. The sort of silence where if you make a noise yourself it makes you feel so alone. Vulnerable. The type a silence where you're scared to make noise, as if something's in the silence with you. Something that you cannot quite see. 

And on the very top floor, a black and white AI stands in front of a monitor, the only light source in the room. 

Despite being modeled after the founder, he had no emotions. No colors. He didn't even have a name- just A. But he didn't care. He wasn't programmed to care. 

He has 284 missed calls. All families wondering where their husbands, wives, siblings and children are. Wondering if they can have the bodies for the funerals. He never answers them. All of the bodies are deep underground somewhere. That's a funeral enough, right? A body being underground. Bodies piled on top of bodies, decomposing. 

He blinks, changing the monitor to show all of the latest information. He memorizes everything on the screen in 6 seconds exactly. Not fast enough. He'd need to be upgraded. 

The new abnormality will be brought in today. It's room will be prepared soon. That's good. Pulling a lever, the large metal box slowly descends, shaking and clanking as it goes down each level. 

* * *

Containment is… incredibly dull. He feels as though he could die of boredom. The small room was not fit for any living being to survive in. There was no comfort to it. No beds, no furniture, no clothes or showers. He was being treated like an animal at a zoo. He feels the urge to scratch at his skin, but he manages to hold himself from doing so. There's nothing to do. How he wished he could sit back and read a book with his snakes. He feels sick. He already knows that if he stays here for long, he'll go insane. Already, he feels like he's losing his grip. 

He's only been here for one night, and he already plans on escaping. He wasn't even bothering anyone! His home was secluded in the forest, and he never bothered anyone unless they bothered  _ him  _ first! It wasn't fair. And now his dear snakes are left without him. He just hopes that  _ they _ aren't taken in. 

He saw the way the workers looked at the golden, two headed snake. They could eat the employees whole if they wanted- they were definitely big enough. He knows that it's no use in hoping, but a part of him wishes that his lovelies are safe at home. They'd never survive in a containment this cramped. 

He sighs, pacing around in his containment cell. He doesn't know what time it is. He assumes it's only just broken morning, and he hasn't slept a wink. He'd been practicing- he hasn't changed his form in a long time, but it seems necessary in this situation if he wanted to go back home. Then again, he has no idea where this place is even located. He was put to sleep once captured. He'd probably get found and shot the moment he steps out of here. 

Changing shape  _ hurt _ , too. He could feel his bones and muscles tearing and reforming whenever he did. It was painful. It made him want to vomit. He had gotten used to forming into a snake, but it still made him want to curl up and die. 

So, he instead paces around his cell, trying to come up with some sort of plan. He needs to figure  _ something _ out. It'd be too risky to break out. At least it'd be risky right now. He needs another way out. Before he can think about it any longer, the lights were suddenly on. His eyes adjust to the light quickly, and he hisses. Of course. He'd need to think some more, anyway. He just doesn't want to see any employees. Annoying, all of them. But of course, he's some sort of specimen to these dolts. 

They had to run on some sort of schedule, right? This entire thing is very thorough… he just needs to memorize everything he can. But he can only focus on so many things at once. His head is already beginning to ache, and if he were to disguise himself he'd need to use up more of his energy just to learn that person's daily routine. 

But at the same time, he wants to make sure his… 'neighbors' are alright. While they're quite useful to gather information with, he finds himself quite worried. The one above him- Remus, he believes- has been banging his head against the wall all night, while the one below him- Virgil- has been screaming. The guards outside have done nothing to help or stop them. 

Perhaps he'll need to block them out. Even though he can gather very useful information from them, trying to 'follow' someone who's not in close range to him will be even more challenging. He hasn't done this in years either. He's never really had a need to until now. He just let his powers happen. Hearing passing thoughts, seeing blurry images. Attaching to someone takes alot of energy. He's only ever done it once. 

But he'll need to block them out. He doesn't like blocking them out- it makes it way too quiet. But it's something he'll have to do if he wants to get out of here- if he wants to learn how to navigate this place. 

He covers his eyes, focusing. It was hard, drowning everything out. He never tried to force out his own abilities. It hurt, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. He doesn't like it- it doesn't feel right. It felt suffocating, trying to block them out- before his brain suddenly goes quiet. Slowly, he looks around, his hands lowering from his face. He can't hear them, and all he can see is his own containment. There's a ringing in his ears, and he feels suddenly very dizzy. He lets out a long breath of air, unused to the sudden silence. He can't imagine the other's cells now. He waves a hand in front of his face, making completely sure he's seeing through his own eyes and no one else's. No hazy visions of a single lightbulb. No visions of a bloodied wall. No one else's thoughts are in his head. Just his own thoughts. Just his own room. Now all he needs is to attach himself to someone.

And as if on cue, the door opens and Logan steps in. Of course it has to be him. He gives a smile, straightening his posture and dusting off his outfit.

"Morning already? I'm sure you slept like a baby." He clasps his hands together. "Oh, but it's so lovely seeing you here today! It's so nice, isn't it? The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming! All gorgeous and nice to see in this luxurious room that has been graciously given to me." 

"You don't have any windows, Deceit." Logan sighs, clicking his pen. 

"Deceit? So that's the name they've given me." He drones, looking at his nails. "With the names they gave to Virgil and Remus, you'd think they'd give me one just as creative. And… stupid." He looks up and tilts his head at Logan. 

"You shouldn't know anything about the others. Perhaps I should file a report." He says, whispering the last part to himself. He grimaces at that, looking away. He hopes that won't ruin his plans in any way. He really needs to get this perfect.

Logan wasn't the worst employee on this team, though he was a bit boring. The others were usually too nervous to talk. Perhaps new employees? He wonders how Logan got onto a team with a bunch of spineless dolts. 

But, there was something about Logan. Even though he was human, there was something… off about him. Something not quite right. He seemed almost like an AI, but he was flesh and bones. He could tell. It was strange, but he sensed something from the scientist. He could smell the blood on his hands, too. Maybe he used to be normal.

He doesn't know. Logan is… different compared to any other human he's ever met. 

Logan sighs, finishing up his notes, and Deceit snaps out of his thoughts before he forgets to do his own job. 

"Leaving so soon? Shame… I was just getting interested." He smiles, but the smile drops as soon as Logan leaves the room. He goes up to the metal door, covering his eyes and focusing as hard as he can before Logan can get out of range. 

Differing images and thoughts flash through his head before he gets to Logan, seeing a blurry vision of the hallways, a loud ringing in his ears. He stumbles back, other passing thoughts slipping through. But no- he needs to focus. He doesn't like doing this. His head feels like it's splitting the farther away Logan gets. It was far easier with Remus and Virgil. They're closer to him, after all. It hurts. Like his soul is being forcefully ripped from his body. His ears ring and his head spins.

He opens his eye, visions of the hallways and his own containment blurring together. He hisses, tugging at his hair before covering his eyes again. He doesn't notice the blood running from his nose. He needs to focus  _ completely _ . He backs up, hitting the wall and hissing, his vision getting clearer and his cell slipping from his vision. 

He doesn't feel himself hitting the floor. 

* * *

Logan feels like he isn't alone. It's a feeling he should have gotten used to, but now it's stronger than ever. He glances behind him, but just sees more employees rushing to and fro. It feels… strange. That someone is very close to him. He's never liked when people stand right behind him- it made him uncomfortable. But he can't be bothered by this. He needs to get back to work. So, he enters  _ O-01-92(T) _ 's containment. Or, Shy Look Today. He forgets to call them by their names.

"Good day today! Are you shy today?" It- no,  _ she _ asks. It was a question she always asked, hidden behind the curtain of skin- the only part he could see of her was her bloody, skinless legs. He blinks. She was happy. That's good.

"No."

"Alone? Not alone?"

That was a new question. He blinks, shaking his head.

"Not alone?"

"No, I'm alone." 

"Alone."

After that, she seems to drop the subject, letting Logan do his work while she said random things. As long as she was happy, he has no problems with what she speaks of. Though, usually she'll repeat what everyone had told her. If he had cared enough, he'd say it's sad. But, he doesn't care. She's just another creature to be hidden away from the world. As is every other creature hidden here. He doesn't get attached to them for a reason. Virgil is evidence enough that no one should get too close to an abnormality.

Virgil, the employee that worked with  _ O-03-60(T) _ , the one that got  _ O-01-67(H) _ 's gift… All give enough reason to never grow close to these creatures, no matter how nice they seem. 

Roman is getting dangerously close to Remus. He wants to trust Roman's abilities, but even when it's family, he's still at risk of being killed. Remus can barely control himself, even with his brother around. But he insists that he can fix his brother. 

Shy Look Today was kind. But only when she was smiling. Logan wasn't attached, though. He never gets attached. Getting attached gives you an open weak spot. 

Once he finishes up his work, he leaves the containment, watching people walk back and forth. He still feels like someone is with him. When he entered the containment, it lessened slightly- maybe because he knew he was with something- but now the feeling lays uncomfortably with him. He's alone. He's sure of it. He's not sure why he's suddenly paranoid, but he cannot let it get in the way of his work. If he fails, he dies. That seems to be a recurring thought. But it's true. Some day he will die here. He believes there's a term for that. Memento mori, was it? 

This entire place was a reminder of inevitable death. 

Blinking, he realizes that he's been standing there for a moment too long. He's not sure what's wrong with him. He hopes that he's not getting sick. That's another terrible thing that can happen. 

He swallows, adjusting his tie and making sure he still has everything on his person. Clipboard, pen, schedule, watch, gun. Is the building colder than usual? He feels cold. Why is he feeling so weird? He moves to go to his next task, before looking down and seeing he's being asked to rest in the lobby. His eyebrows furrow. Why would they want him to rest? He hasn't had any health or sanity drain- none of the abnormalities have even touched him. But, he obeys his orders and goes to his respective lobby, and is surprised when he starts feeling more refreshed. Did he get drained? He doesn't recall when he messed up today. He blinks, slowly sitting down. He  _ does  _ feel better, but the uncomfortable feeling still persists. Maybe everything is finally getting to him. 

He doesn't usually rest in the lobby. He's the best employee on his team, after all. He hardly ever fails. Every job he does, he does it perfectly and without fail. If he doesn't do it perfectly, then what good is he? 

Something isn't right. He isn't sure what's happening. He feels like he's spiraling. This hasn't ever happened before. He doesn't know how long he's been sitting here, or when the room got so dark, or when he started bleeding.  _ Why is he bleeding? He's not injured _ . Something isn't right- 

His watch buzzes, and he's suddenly back in the lobby. It was strange to suddenly be dragged back to reality, he felt a little lightheaded. He blinks, adjusting his glasses and looking down. He's being asked to Patton's office. Strange. He hasn't been there in a while. Slowly, he stands up and walks to the elevator. 

The elevator is slow, as always. The nurse offices are on the upper floors, for some reason. Maybe they're counting on employees dying before they can reach help. He wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility. 

But, he's here. When did he enter the office? He's not sure. Patton's office is connected with another doctor's, separated by a curtain. Patton liked to have his decorated. It seemed almost like a pediatricians office. There were stickers on the walls, cheesy motivational posters, and even stuffed animals. He briefly wondered why Patton didn't just get a job as a pediatrician. It'd suit him much better than being stuck in this hell hole. In fact, he never learned why Patton signed up for this job. It wasn't a question you'd usually ask around here. He sighs as he's sat down by the nurse, blinking slowly. There must be a calming gas pumped into this room.

"Logan? Hey, Lo can you hear me?" Patton asks, waving a hand in front of his face. 

"Hm? Yes.. yes. Why am I here?" He asks, looking around for a moment before focusing on Patton. 

"Your sanity levels were decreasing faster than the lobby could heal you. It helped for a bit! But you started spiraling. We think that one of the abnormalities with white abilities attached to you mentally somehow." Patton explains, doing a routine checkup. Taking temperature, checking reflexes, heartbeat, before going over to his medicine cabinet. 

"Ah…" He blinks. There's only two abnormalities with white attack powers on his team, and he's only been to two rooms today. So obviously it has to be Deceit. He sighs, as Patton comes back with a bottle of medicine. 

"Here. This should help stabilize the effects…" He explains, and Logan takes the medicine without a second thought.

"Thank you- I'm going to get back to work." He stands quickly, dusting off his coat.

"H-Huh? Are you sure? Shouldn't you rest a little? I can-" Logan cuts him off.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Patton." He adjusts his tie and pushes up his glasses, walking to the door. And before Patton can protest, he's already out of the office. Patton sighs, putting the bottle back and hoping that nothing bad will happen to his friend. 

He should have expected that this would happen. He shouldn't have let himself relax so much around an abnormality he doesn't even know. Stupid, how stupid of him to let his guard down like that. 

Of course, he's not allowed to actually punish the abnormality unless he escapes containment- and by punishment that'd essentially mean killing the snake. Which would make all of his progress meaningless. It was such a stupid procedure. It seems the only way AIs know how to solve a problem is by killing. He wouldn't be surprised. 

The elevator descends slowly, shaking slightly yet being completely silent. The different floors blink yellow as he goes down. No one else was with him in here. At least he's not hallucinating. The medicine worked surprisingly fast, and he briefly wonders if the gas had something to do with this as well. 

The elevator clunks and shakes as it slows to a stop, the doors opening back to the Information Team lobby. He steps out slowly, glancing around, before making his way to Deceit's containment, not even bothering to look down at the task he's been given. Sure, he might be going off task, but it's not like they can fire him. 

The heels of his boots click as he walks through the mostly empty hallway, and slowly as he approaches the room, the feeling that has been plaguing him is slowly vanishing. He huffs out a sigh, opening the door and stepping in. 

What he sees is not what he expects. On the floor is Deceit, slowly becoming conscious, with a small pool of blood under his face and coming from his nose. He's considerably paler, and in general looks extremely weak. Slowly, he pushes himself up on his arms, shaking and looking up at Logan. 

"Found out, hm? What're you gonna do? Punish me?  _ Kill me _ ?" He asks, coughing and slowly sitting up. 

Logan adjusts his tie, trying not to feel any sympathy. This is the creature that almost drove him to madness, after all. He shakes his head.

And suddenly there's a click, his gun pointed at the abnormality. He could see the fear in the creature's eyes as his weapon is pointed at it. 

"I-I didn't think you'd actually-" 

_ BANG! _

The bullet whizzes straight past his head and into the wall, so close to hitting his face. He sits still, pale and wide eyed from terror. 

"That," Logan puts away his gun, "was a warning for your behavior. I will file a report and send a nurse here."

He turns to the door, looking over his shoulder. 

"And, you should be glad that you're in this cell. If you weren't, you wouldn't be given as something as kind as a warning."

And with that, Logan leaves. He leaves the abnormality shaking in his spot, curled against the wall. He doesn't dare cry. 

Below him, he can hear the wails of Virgil, and above him he can hear the screams and crashing of Remus. 

He curls up tighter on himself. He's not sure how much time passes before the nurse comes in.

He doesn't look up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deceit's powers are very confusing and hard to explain. I do plan on better explaining them in the future, but for those who are confused, he can mentally connect with others! He uses it to understand his snakes at home, but since he's here he just usually hears passing thoughts and sometimes seeing through his neighbors eyes since they're closest to him and aren't going anywhere.   
It isn't exactly voluntary, but since there's not alot to do in his cell, he finds himself seeing through their eyes alot.


	3. A Most Dangerous Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWS  
\- Talk of Death  
\- Mentions of alcohol  
\- Body horror  
\- Implied self harm  
\- Spiders  
\- Parasites  
\- Skin trauma
> 
> Definitely a tamer chapter, but please do tell me if I missed anything!

On the very top floor, preparations were being made. 

It was a very special day. Very special indeed. For once in the longest time, they would be seeing the founder himself. He barely came around, being one of the only ones able to leave this place. 

A smiled in the dark room. Smiled as cheerily as he could for an AI programmed without emotions. All for Thomas, he'd remind himself. He knows that Thomas will be upset- but it's okay. He'll get used to it, and he'll learn that A has everything under control. Then the corporation will thrive better than ever! He fills the champagne glasses, despite not being able to drink himself, and sets it down gently. Everything must be perfect. Even though he knows neither of them will drink. Even though he knows they don't agree. Even though he knows this meeting won't last long. Even though he knows that Thomas will be upset. Soon, he'll be able to have everything under his careful control.

The door opens, and the lights come on. A looks over, an uncomfortable smile sitting on his face. Remy, whom he called in, blows his kazoo half heartedly. 

Thomas steps in, and is Greatly Confused.

  


"Greetings, Thomas. It's so good seeing you again." He says, no emotion in his voice. Remy drops his kazoo. 

"Heya, daddy-o. I don't know what this celebration is for, but I see alcohol." He smirks. "The others should be here soon."

"... What is happening exactly?" Thomas asks, confusion clear on his face. 

"Oh, right. You might think that it's someone's birthday or a celebration of sorts." A hums. "But it's not. Congratulations on your first death in the new team! One more death, and plenty more to come."

A claps, and Remy looks uncomfortable, suddenly not really into the party. Thomas looks pale. 

"Do you have to do this every time? Everytime we get a new team, you do this and celebrate the first person to die." Thomas furrows his eyebrows. A blinks. 

"I'm simply getting you used to death, sir. It isn't all bad." A clapped his hands, and Remy rushed to leave the room and get back to his team, mumbling something about letting the other sephiras know. The two stare, before A's head snaps back to Thomas unnaturally. "But, enough of that. We have important matters to discuss, after all."

  


The two sit down, an uncomfortable silence settling over him as Thomas stares at his AI counterpart. 

"You do understand why I've called you here, correct?" A states, voice suddenly cold. Thomas nods. 

"Yes, I do. And I don't agree with you." He states firmly, a stubborn look across his face. 

"It would greatly benefit all of us, sir." A pauses, narrowing his eyes, leaning forward. "Do you want this to fail?"

"Of course not! But-"

" _ Then you will do as I say _ ." 

Thomas flinches as the cold hand is wrapped tightly around his wrist. He knows that A could easily kill him. Both of them know this. But they know just as well that Thomas could easily dispose of A. They could cause each others demise. And even though they were two sides of the same coin, there was no trust in their relationship. They had to be aware of each other's moves at all times. It was like a dangerous game of chess, and they both had their eyes set for the king.

"I will not." He says, trying not to let his voice waver. It was hard to stand up to A. He's a naturally emotional person. A isn't even human.

A sighs, taking his hand away and folding them on top of each other. 

"You will come around eventually. We have no use for these emotions getting in our way… Face it, Thomas. You need me. I can show you the way. We shall thrive." He reaches out to grab Thomas's hand, but he pulls back, standing up. 

"No. Not like this. Not with how you're running things." 

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it sir?"

"I'll run this place myself." 

  


A's eyes widen, and then he smiles, standing himself. He tilts his head. 

"Fine then. I'm glad you've stopped hiding like a coward." He steps forward, straightening Thomas's jacket. 

"But I'll show you. You need me, Thomas. Isn't that why you created me?" 

  


He says nothing.

And the game of chess has officially begun. 

  


* * *

  


** _> Welcome back to Lobotomy Corp, PATTON._ **

  


** _> …_ **

  


** _> You have 2 new messages. Would you like to read them? _ **

  


** _> NO._ **

  


** _> Understood, I have saved them for later. _ **

  


Patton sighs, rubbing his aching head. He feels exhaustion, and he glances over at his sleeping roommate. He should be asleep too. He needs to be in tip top shape if he wants to do a good job. He wants to be able to see Virgil. Even though his containment absolutely terrifies him, he doesn't want to leave Virgil. Not ever again does he want to leave him.

It made him sad. Which isn't great since he's supposed to be happy! Happy and cheerful nurse that makes others feel better! He doesn't want to drag anyone down with him. 

  


But… Logan already seems to be going down. 

He's never seen Logan scare an abnormality like that before. He's never pulled his weapon on one that didn't even breach containment. And that scared him. 

He didn't want to be scared of Logan. He shouldn't be! They're friends, after all. The abnormality seemed terrified. He didn't look like too much of a threat- maybe he didn't mean to affect Logan like that? He doesn't know. He always tries to see the best in everything. Even the abnormalities. 

  


He didn't like seeing the abnormalities locked up. He knows with his position, he's not allowed to say anything about that. It just felt… inhumane. The spaces were so small and cramped. It's no place for anyone to comfortably live.

He hates seeing things in pain. He regularly has to visit a few of them.  _ F-02-44(T)  _ hated itself with a passion, and it reminded him of The Du- Remus. Remus. It always hurt itself, hating how grotesque it looked. Remus is one he also visited frequently. He always managed to somehow hurt himself. Even with the chains wrapped around him that Patton hates looking at. Virgil was the one he visited the most. He didn't need as much treatment as the previous two, but… Patton felt better when he spent time with Virgil. He wants to make up for all the time he didn't when Virgil was still…

  


Patton shakes his head, laying back in his bed and staring at the ceiling, his roommate's soft snoring filling up the empty air. He felt like there was a hole in his chest. A hole that's been slowly growing ever since he started working here. 

He realizes that the plot of his life doesn’t make sense to him anymore- that although he thought he was following the arc of the story, he keeps finding himself immersed in passages he doesn't understand. Like right now. He never would have expected himself to end up in this place.

He longed for his freedom again, after having it thrown out into the wind, watching it leave him while all he can do is stand and wait for death. 

He didn't like thinking about that, either. He knows Logan would scold him if he found out, but god he's terrified of dying in this place. He'll never get to see his family again. Maybe his family was small and broken, but now that he's been taken away from it, he realizes how much he really loved them. He knows he loves his family, but being stuck here only made him realize how much he truly cares. 

He wishes he could talk to them. To hug them one last time. He doesn't want to die here. At least, he'd like to see them again before dying here. He missed them. He missed them more than he could ever possibly handle.

  


Everything was perfect for him. Even with his small, struggling family. Things were finally looking up.

It was perfect.

Until it wasn't.

  


He's grown used to crying silently. He can't be a child here. He can't be immature. So, whenever he cries, he's learned how to suppress his sobs and his hiccups. 

He curls up, exhaustion weighing on his body like a heavy blanket. He doesn't remember when he fell asleep. 

  


* * *

  


Morning broke. Or at least he could assume that it's morning. His clock said it was morning. He couldn't be too sure, though. He sighs, rubbing his tired eyes. Nurses had to get up earlier than regular employees so that they wouldn't get in the way of research when treating an abnormality. He was tasked to check on  _ O-01-62(H) _ once more this morning to make sure he didn't revert back to the state he was in yesterday. 

He was a little nervous, he didn't really know about this new abnormality after all. He was still in risk of danger himself. He stands up, stretching out his tired limbs, trying not to wake up his roommate. He just needs to take his meds, get dressed, and be on his way! 

  


Leaving his room, he mentally tries to cheer himself up. He was always down when it was early morning. The only other people out in the hallways were the sephiras, guards, and other nurses. Though the hallways were still sparse. He waves at Remy as he passes by. Remy, despite being on a different team, was the one he saw most often. He never really saw the sephirot for the team he helped with. Nate was his name? Or maybe it was Toby? He's not sure, he can't quite remember. 

Once he makes sure he's on the right floor, he double checks his notes before walking down the empty hallway, his footsteps echoing. He trails before stopping at  _ O-01-62(H) _ . He takes a deep breath, before entering the containment. 

  


Inside laid the serpent. Coiled around himself in such an unnatural, inhuman way that made Patton tense up a little. Upon hearing the door open, his head snaps up and he smiles. Patton smiles back, albeit more nervous. 

"Well, if it isn't Nurse Joy." He hisses, slowly standing to his full height. Patton liked to think he was rather tall himself, only just being a few inches shorter than Logan, who was 6'4. He was the perfect dad height, in his opinion. But standing in front of abnormalities makes him feel… tiny. The reptile was tall. Perhaps 6'8? He was only a few inches taller than Logan, he thinks. Not the tallest in the building for sure, but perhaps it was more so his anatomy that added to the unpleasant nervousness Patton was feeling right now. 

He smiles awkwardly.

"Hello! Deceit, was it? I was sent to check up on you this morning." He smiles, stepping forward. When the other doesn't make any moves to stop him, he approaches. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh, I feel absolutely miserable. I think I might be dying." The snake drones, putting the back of his hand to his head. Patton giggles. 

"Very funny! But, I need the truth if you wanna feel better." He puts his hands on his hips, and the two stare at each other. 

"Hm…" He hums, leaning down to match Patton's height. He stares for a moment. "I'm fine. I'm sure there are other abnormalities that need help more than I do." 

"Well, as long as you're doing okay…!" He hesitates, fiddling with his pen. "Logan doesn't usually act like that… Maybe he's just stressed! He's really a nice person…"

  


Deceit stares longer, before looking at his long nails, his forked tongue flickering out of his mouth. Patton has to hold himself back from immediately squealing. 

"Logan is… Not normal… I know that's rich to hear coming from a freak of nature such as myself." He chuckles darkly, the noise brings a chill down the nurse's spine. "He doesn't seem right in the head. He used to be just like everyone else, I believe… But something happened." 

He crosses his arms, two more coming out to tidy his hair and straighten his hat before sinking back into his body. Patton tries to ignore how his stomach twists. 

"... I don't know… I'll try talking to him, if I can. He doesn't… do those sorts of things." He frowns, and the abnormality clicks his tongue. 

"You're different than the others… I'm sure anyone else would be happy to let the nerd kill me… but you should be going. I'm fine, after all. You're Virgil's little friend, right? Go and bother him instead."

Patton freezes, eyes widened as he looks up at the abnormality. His fingers twitch and he anxiously wets his lips.

"... How do you know about Virgil?" He asks, voice silent. The snake smiles, putting a finger up to his mouth. 

"I don't know anything, Patty cake. Move along little lamb, other patients need you more than I do." His eye glows, a brilliant gold that captivated Patton. And without even thinking, Patton turns and leaves the room.

  


He steps into the hallway, blinking. Was there something he should be worried about? He isn't sure… Well, it's probably not too important, whatever it was! Humming, he decides to check up on Virgil. He felt a bit anxious, walking down his dark hallway, but if it were lightened, Virgil wouldn't be afraid to leave his containment. He sighs, looking up at the door,  _ T-01-43(T) _ . He braces himself and steps inside. 

The containment was illuminated by a single lightbulb, and Virgil would draw to it like a moth to a flame. 

He looks up, seeing the long, spindling spider legs. They were bigger than Virgil himself. The were long, and sharp, and twitched uncomfortably. Patton swallows, and the spider looks down. Virgil is so pale now. His eyes are nothing but black. Slowly, he climbs down- his spider legs clumsy and uncertain in the way they move. Patton was scared. He hates that he's scared of Virgil. But he still smiles, anxious. 

  


"Virgil, how are you today?" He asks, stepping forward. Virgil takes a shaky breath, backing up, only to jump when his extra limbs hit the wall. 

"Good, g-good. I'm good. I'm fine. Good." He rambles, wringing his hands together and trying to make himself smaller. Patton frowns, taking a step closer. 

"Hey, it's okay, kiddo. We'll figure this out… Has it gotten any worse?" He asks quietly, hand hovering over the spider's shoulder, but not touching it. 

"I-I don't know… still hurts.. hurts alot. I want to pry them off." He sucks in air through his teeth.

"L-Let's not rip off any limbs!" He laughs nervously. "... Is it okay if I look?"

  


Virgil hesitates, before nodding. It was hard to put on and take off clothing, but he'd rather die than be shirtless all the time. The backs of all his clothes had large slits in them, keeping them together with two buttons, sort of but not exactly like a hospital gown. Of course, this meant he couldn't wear his jacket anymore, but it was always wrapped around his waist. 

Patton slowly unbuttons his black shirt, extremely careful to not touch the protruding spider legs. Once it's off, he frowns. 

"... Is it bad? Getting better? I-I can never see it. I-I-I don't- I don't want to see it really- please don't tell me how bad it is-" He breathes heavily and Patton gently pats his shoulder for some sort of comfort.

Besides the very obvious spider limbs, a problem they've been keeping their eye on has been the slowly growing blackness in Virgil's skin. It apparently hurts, but not too much to where it's excruciating. And it all stemmed from the bump in the back of Virgil's neck. The smooth exoskeleton of what used to be another abnormality, burrowed into Virgil's skin. It was a parasite of sorts. And they couldn't remove it. Even touching it made Virgil's stable mindset slip. 

But the dark, almost purple color has been spreading slowly. 

He's scared that Virgil will be lost completely before he can find a way to reverse this. He's already been slipping into more monstrous tendencies, and even though he isn't used to using his new legs, he's made things that resemble webs. Touching them  _ burn _ , though. Not to mention how Virgil has started eating. 

Patton grimaces, before coming to sit in front of Virgil. 

  


"How's your eyesight?" Patton asks, brushing some hair out of the way of Virgil's eyes.

"... It's getting darker… It's really hard to see… I-Is the light still on? The lights are still bright, right? Patton, I-I don't wanna go blind. It's getting hard to see- I can't- I don't-" Virgil panics, voice slipping for a moment, but Patton grabs his hands carefully. 

"You'll be okay. It's gonna be okay. We'll… We'll definitely solve this! I'll make sure to have a brighter light installed… I-Is there anything else I should know?" 

Virgil shakes his head, and Patton nods. 

"You're not leaving, are you?" He asks, voice quiet and desperate. 

"I have to. I promise I'll come back tonight, though. We'll figure this out, okay?" He speaks, voice barely a whisper. He's not sure why he's whispering. Virgil nods, slowly pulling his hands away and folding them on his lap. His legs move, shifting awkwardly in the small room. He looks small. Uncertain. Unsure. 

Patton hates leaving him.

  


But the moment he does leave, he feels exceptionally less anxious, despite the ghost feeling of creepy crawlies all over his skin. He shudders, scratching his arms. He spent more time there than he should have. Now he'll have to check up on Remus later, which didn't sit quite well with him. Even though he'd leave that cell with at least one injury, he hated leaving him to hurt himself. 

He hates entering that room, but he's sure Roman has it much worse… seeing his own brother chained down and turned into… that. He frowns, rubbing his wrists. 

He needs to speak to Logan, still. What happened yesterday wasn't sitting right with him. Logan wouldn't hurt something that couldn't fight back, right? He wouldn't hurt something that didn't even escape, right? He's not sure. He wants to trust his friend with this. They've been friends for a while now! Logan wouldn't do something like this. He's sure of it. 

Still, he's not sure how he'll bring it up to Logan. What if he's dismissive? What if he doesn't care? What if he gets angry? His stomach twists and he frowns. Why is he worrying so much? This will be fine! He just needs to catch Logan when he's not busy!

… Which might take a while. 

  


Patton looks down, seeing that he needs to get to his office in 30 minutes. So he has a little time to maybe grab a drink and something to eat. He can't have much though. He really wishes he could have proper meals, but most of his time is dedicated to his work. 

He stops by a vending machine to get food so he won't starve to death. He wants to bake again. He doesn't remember the last time he's baked. But, well, he can't waste his time getting sad about it..! He adjusts his glasses and eats as he walks, hoping to not waste any time. He waves as he walks by some workers he knows, but slows down when he sees three people talking. There's Remy, A, and… someone who looks a lot like A. He blinks, and Remy catches his eye- at least he thinks so. It's hard to tell with the sunglasses.

  


"Hey, Patton-cake!" He waves with his free hand, the other holding a mug. The other two turn to look, and he suddenly feels very put on the spot. A was… incredibly strict. If he messes up, who knows what will happen. 

"Uh, hello! Did you need me?" He asks, walking over. 

"Not really, but I thought I should introduce you." He smiles, patting the nurse on the back. 

"This is Patton Hart, he's one of the best nurses here. I'm sure it'd help him  _ alot  _ if we, I dunno, got better medical equipment Thomas?" He asks, nudging Patton slightly. Patton freezes up some more. God, it's the founder himself out of all people. He prays that he doesn't die today. 

"We do not need-" A speaks up before Thomas holds up a hand. 

"We'll look into supplying the doctors with better equipment." He says quickly, never once turning to look at his AI counterpart, who wore a scowl. It was scary seeing the so called emotionless robot upset. 

"I-It's really nice meeting you, Mr. Sanders..! Thank you, I should get going I'll do my best!" He says quickly, getting out of there as soon as possible. He hears Remy say something, but he's already in the elevator. 

  


He takes in a deep breath, looking down to see a message from Remy. 

** _> Make sure to get the new medicine from Emmi's office, boo~ ♡ _ **

A smile tugged at his lips, and he looks away, glad that no one was upset with him. He lets out a breath, waiting for the elevator. Despite this being a high tech place with alot of cool stuff, the workers were given the short end of the stick. Not like he's allowed to complain. 

But, he wonders why Thomas was here. He almost never shows himself, and Patton has never even seen his face until today. Did something happen? Why did he suddenly come back? Is work going to get better or worse now that he's here again?

He isn't sure. A was already incredibly intimidating, and never thought about people's lives. He wondered what Thomas would be like. Thomas is human, right? Surely, he must have better morals compared to something that isn't alive. He gulps, suddenly incredibly nervous. He has a lot to worry about today, huh? At least getting the medicine won't be hard… Emile was kind. 

He doesn't want to think about dealing with Remus later. And thinking about talking to Logan is stressing him out a lot more than it should. Not to mention he doesn't even know how many patients he'll get today. This is too stressful for him. He just wants to eat cookies and watch movies. He huffs, and the elevator shakes as its doors open. He steps out, adjusting his glasses. 

Guess he won't be eating lunch today. 

  


* * *

  


In a dark room on the very top floor, a chess piece moves across the board. His eyes glowed in the dark room, the only color on him. A cold, icy blue. 

"Are you sure you know what you're doing,  _ sir _ ?" The word comes out as more of a taunt, venom dripping off of his words.

"Of course. Do you know what you're doing?" 

"I do. I always know what I'm doing." 

Neither of them speak as a pawn is taken off of the board. It's silent. The slightest of noises could be heard. 

  


They stare at each other, neither daring to look away. Then, the door opens. 

"A, you're needed." The AI speaks, and A stands up, putting a hand on Thomas's shoulder.

"Just have faith in me. I will make everything better." 

And he leaves without waiting for a response. Thomas sits there, fists clenched.

  


He walks down the hall, a smile on his face. He will make things better. He will make this corporation thrive. And if he has to play dirty to get there, then so be it. He can play dirty. 

Thomas won't even know what hit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would take a lot longer to get this chapter out, not gonna lie! This is definitely a lot tamer. But I hope you enjoyed reading!!  
Im getting excited for this au!! Hopefully I can get the ball rolling soon, this is all just basic introduction!


	4. Memento Mori

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs for this chapter!  
\- Anxiety  
\- Body horror  
\- Bugs (butterflies specifically)  
\- Feeling of bugs on skin  
\- Lots of death talk  
\- Arguing  
\- Threats of death  
\- Guns  
\- Gun violence  
\- Implied sensory overload  
\- Possible manipulation/gaslighting
> 
> Please do tell me if I missed anything!

** _> Welcome back to Lobotomy Corp, THOMAS._ **

** _> Important Message from A_ **

** _> "Thomas,_ **

** _Do you believe in the existence of soul? I do. I also believe that the soul itself is the reason of one’s existence. Then, is there a perfect soul? I do not think there is. However, one can endlessly get closer to perfection. The process of it is an endless wave of agony. At the end of such effort, I expect that we will be able to make valuations of everything correctly. _ **

** _We can make things perfect. Even if some people have to die along the way. I trust you feel the same?_ **

** _But of course you don't. You have emotions to get in the way of your rational thinking. When you're ready to become a real leader, lets eliminate the ones that are keeping us behind._ **

** _Keep up the good work, sir. I expect nothing but perfection."_ **

** _> … _ **

** _> Delete message?_ **

** _>YES_ **

** _> Message discarded._ **

* * *

Logan felt strange. Not in the way he felt yesterday, but something… different. He feels as though he's forgetting something important. But he can't think. His head hurts. Not from any of the abnormalities, either. No he's been doing good with the abnormalities today. But, speaking of such, he hasn't been tasked to talk with Deceit. It's not as if he cares, but he wonders if they assigned a different employee to him. He's not sure why that would happen, though. He's been doing an excellent job, in his opinion. 

Perhaps it was because he messed up and let the abnormality affect him like that. That was quite stupid of him. He should know better. Be better. He's been raised to always be his very best. If he can't do that, then what use is he? No, wait, he cannot allow himself to think like this. He's acting like Virgil. 

And look where Virgil ended up. 

He shakes his head, adjusting his glasses and deciding to save those thoughts for later. Rationalize them later, and not while he's doing very important work. He looks down, pleased that he's been doing so well today, but something itches at the back of his brain. He swears there's something he's forgetting. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be too important if he forgot it, right? He almost never forgets things. 

He straightens his tie as he walks down the hallway. He shouldn't waste more time than he already has. And he hates wasting time. Funny how working makes him less stressed and relaxing makes him more stressed. 

He'd been going through the same routine all day. Seeing abnormalities and taking notes. He'd seen all on his team today except for one. Talking to them- or at least listening to their nonsense- and gathering energy. But at least he hasn't messed up today. Everything has been going rather nicely. 

And then he spots something that makes his heart (figuratively) drop. 

"Logan." The colorless AI catches him, staring with his cold emotionless eyes. And next to him was Thomas. 

What the hell was Thomas doing here? 

There's a nervous pressure in his chest, and he swallows, adjusting his tie and walking up to the two.

"A." He says as a greeting, straightening his posture. "Am I needed for something?" 

"Oh, no. Thomas has decided to stay and run this place himself. Why not introduce him to one of our best employees?" He gives a smile that was out of place on him. Seeing the 'emotionless AI' pretend to feel left him with a strange feeling. Logan decided to look at Thomas instead. 

"Mr. Sanders. It's a pleasure meeting you in person, sir." He holds out his hand, which Thomas shakes with a smile- before that smile quickly drops. He wonders why, but doesn't voice his question. 

A looks between the two, before facing Logan. 

"You did a swell job yesterday. Unlike the rest of your foolish team," He straightens Logan's coat, staring him in the eyes, "You're not afraid to get things done… Your team could learn a lot from you."

Logan doesn't miss the way Thomas tenses up. There's alot to be questioned. But, he's a little confused to say the least. He thought yesterday was a failure. What did he do to deserve any praise? 

"Thank you, A, though I am confused why I am getting such praise?" He says, and A doesn't respond, simply giving a knowing smile. Logan doesn't understand. Is there something A knows that he doesn't? He never gets an answer to his question, and it takes some effort to not fidget with his tie.

Quickly, the AI pulls away, standing back at Thomas's side in an instant. They shared a look that Logan couldn't quite understand before he waves his hand in a dismissive manner, closing his cold eyes.

"That will be all. Keep up the good work, Logan. We have some work we need to attend to. Right, sir?"

Thomas doesn't respond. It takes him a moment to realize that Thomas hasn't said a word since Logan approached the two of them. He opens his mouth to speak, but he feels a buzz and looks down. Ah, right. He needs to get back to work. When he looks up, the two are already gone. But, something doesn't feel quite right. Why is Thomas here? What is A planning? 

Will things change? And if so, will they be for better or for worse? Then again, he wonders how it could get any worse, unless they end up killing people for no reason, but that'd be illogical to do. He gets another buzz. 

** _> "Logan,_ **

** _Once you are done with your work for today, I ask that you meet me in my office. _ **

** _-A"_ **

And that's a terrifying message to receive. He hasn't visited A's office in a long time. What could he even be needed for? He can already tell the rest of the day is going to be long. There's a sense of dread sitting on his shoulders, but he tries his best to ignore it. He knows its not healthy, but he needs to do his job. He's not sure what he should expect. Maybe he'll get thrown out of the window and fall to his death.

God, he can't be thinking like this.

He shakes his head, and enters  _ T-01-68(H) _ 's room once again. He'd already seen this abnormality, but he was tasked to come in here before it's qliphoth counter reached zero. The tall humanoid's butterfly head flutters as he enters. The calm and solemn atmosphere of the room almost makes him forget how dangerous this abnormality is. Almost.

"What happens when people die?" The question is asked. No matter how many times he enters this room, the abnormality's voice always makes him shiver. Maybe this abnormality wasn't the best one to visit while he was in his current mental state, but he couldn't ignore his orders. 

Logan doesn't respond. He simply lets the abnormality talks, all while ignoring his existential dread. 

"What happened to those that worked here?" It asks, butterflies landing on its shoulders. "They must have returned home… Where family and warmness await."

The Funeral of the Dead Butterflies- what a long name- gazes down on Logan in silence, with eyes he cannot see. 

"But everyone knows that the employees can't leave the company unless they retire." It continues on, the butterflies inside the large coffin festering. "They must have 'retired' and returned to their homes, having earned what they wanted and full of hope."

Logan could hear the smile in its echoing voice. He exhales through his nose, writing his notes. Just don't think about it. 

"But retiring isn't as easy as it sounds. Just like how feathers do not fall out on their own free will. Then where did the retired employees go?" It tilts its head, wings fluttering. "They are bound to the company the moment they enter. They cannot leave even if they retire." 

Logan snaps his notebook shut, and the abnormality falls quiet. 

"... My coffin isn't big enough to replace hundreds of graves… Do you mourn your fallen coworkers?" It asks, its echoing voice softer than what Logan is used to. He didn't think its voice could get any softer, really.

"No… I don't have time to mourn." He says simply. He's not sure why he answered. He never answers. The butterfly wings flutter once again. 

"I've failed to provide proper rest to your friends…" It looks at its empty hands, the two others still holding up the heavy coffin. "... I will wait until the end of time… Wait until I can put their bodies to rest..." 

They both fall silent, staring at each other. He could hear the numerous butterflies inside of the large coffin festering and fluttering. There was a strange feeling of understanding. 

...Understanding? No, no, he's just tired. He shakes his head, and leaves the room before he can fall for the insect's trap. 

Talking to the abnormality affected him more than it should have, and his results were mostly good. In fact, they didn't need much more information on the abnormality. The only reasons employees were still sent to see it was because if they didn't, it would break out again. And last time it broke out, well… It was certainly not fun. He scratches his arms at the memory, trying to get rid of the phantom feeling of butterflies on his skin. 

Why they don't just make better containment cells, he's not sure. Maybe they just wanted everyone to suffer. He wouldn't doubt it, really. The bastards probably count on all of them dying. Then again, if they all died, they wouldn't have people to work for them. Unless they replaced everyone with AIs. That'd probably take a lot of money, though. In fact, how is the company even making money? Is it paid for by the government? Eh. 

He shakes his head, sighing. He's thinking too much about the wrong things. He should strictly be thinking of work. Work and nothing else. Just think about work and- oh look Patton's approaching. When did Patton get here? What does Patton need him for?

"Lo-lo! Are you busy? I wanted to talk to you." He says, a strange seriousness in his expression that Logan isn't used to seeing. 

"I am in fact busy." He states without a second thought. At that, Patton frowns. 

"I made sure to catch you at lunch time- can you not take your lunch break?" He tilts his head. 

Was it lunch time already? God, he really needs to focus if he's losing track of time. This doesn't happen to him. He's always on top of things. Always.

"... I suppose." He says after a brief pause, and the tension in his friend's shoulders releases, a smile on his face. 

"Cool! Can we talk somewhere more private?" He blinks, but nods, leading the two of them to an empty breakroom. The breakroom wasn't often used- filled with plants that are probably fake and cheap cafeteria tables and chairs. The two sit down in the uncomfortable seats, Patton shifting and tapping at the table.

Patton looks nervous, still. He isn't sure why. 

"Sooo… About what happened yesterday…" He pokes his fingers together, averting his gaze. Logan frowns at this, glancing at the table before looking back at Patton. 

"Ah. I am aware I messed up yesterday." He sighs, adjusting his tie. 

"Oh-! Really?"

"Yes. I shouldn't have been so careless and let that abnormality affect me. Thank you for the medicine, by the way. I'll try not to let this happen again." He closes his eyes, frowning a little. He doesn't like admitting his mistakes. It's even worse that Patton's not saying anything. Cracking open an eye, he sees his friend looking confused. 

"No, Logan, I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about you… y'know... Threatening the abnormality." His voice goes quiet as he says this, pouting. 

This was certainly news to him. 

He had only visited Deceit once yesterday, and went back to work after he got his medicine from Patton. He never went back in, and he has no memory of threatening anything. 

He blinks in surprise, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at this. It takes him a few moments to get his thoughts together to say something.

"Patton- I don't recall ever doing such a thing. Are you sure it wasn't a coworker?" He tilts his head. 

"Huh? No! I'm sure it was you!" He squeaks, eyebrows pushed together in concern. 

"I can assure you that it wasn't."

"But- what if, uh… What if you got brain wiped?!" 

Logan raises an eyebrow, and Patton's face flushes a bit. He sighs, crossing his arms. 

"There's probably a more logical explanation to this, Patton. Have you been getting enough sleep? Taking your medicine?"

"I have!" He shouts, stamping his foot and puffing out his cheeks. Logan stares, before looking away with a sigh, shaking his head. 

"We will… resume this later. We should both be getting back to work." He was already tired of today. So much nonsense is happening. His headache grows. 

"... Okay, fiiiine. But you better keep your word! We  _ will  _ be talking about this later!" He wags his finger and Logan smiles, only for it to immediately disappear. 

"Alright. I'll contact you after I meet with A." 

"A? You have a meeting with him? What for?" Patton looks worried again. But that's to be expected. Everyone knows how scary A is.

"I'm not quite sure. I'm certain I'll be fine, he was praising my work this morning, after all." He hums a little. "But we should really get back to work. You may have patients who need you."

"Alright… I'll see you later!"

And with that, they part ways. 

It was… a strange conversation. He wonders why Patton would think he'd do such a thing. It would just make his work harder if he were to threaten an abnormality. So silly. 

He looks down for his next task and. Wow. Alright. Of course after that strange conversation he's tasked to talk to Deceit. He looks around. There were cameras everywhere- or at least he assumed so. They must be very well hidden, because how else would they receive information? Then again, this may just be a coincidence. He's starting to think like Virgil.

… He stops that train of thought quickly. 

It's the same old thing, walking down the hallways to get to Deceit's cell. It wasn't exactly hard to navigate, there were only four abnormalities per team, after all. Three if you didn't count objects- even though they still affected people in strange ways. Standing at the door of the containment, though, he felt odd. Odd like he felt earlier. His gun felt heavier than usual in his coat. But surely it's nothing. He's thinking too much about Patton's words. He huffs, entering the cell. 

Deceit looks up, coiling up tighter on himself when he realizes just who it is that entered. Logan doesn't miss the glint of his fangs. He blinks, pulling out his notebook. 

"Logan, just the person I wanted to see." He hisses, voice low. "Are you here to finish the job?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Deceit." He squints his eyes, and the snake scrunches his nose, tongue flicking out for a moment. He stands slowly, tilting his head to the side, and Logan looks up at him. 

"Hmm…" He hums, inspecting Logan with a cold and calculated gaze. Logan doesn't look away, a tense silence hanging in the air as they hold their stares, neither willing to submit. It lasted for a while, a heavy feeling in the air. Logan willed himself to not click his pen or mess with his tie. Finally, Deceit sighs and steps back, shrinking down onto the floor and resting his head in his hands. "Whatever. Lets get this over with. As  _ lovely _ as you are, I don't feel like dealing with you. You understand, right?"

He wears a sickly sweet smile, tilting his head. Logan rolls his eyes, before noticing something. Something that makes his blood run cold.

A bullet hole? In the wall. He blinks slowly, trying to process this new information. How could this happen? Unless Deceit somehow got a gun, this would mean that an employee used their weapon in here. He thinks back on Patton's words and feels his head pounding. This is already too much.

"Oh? Did you finally notice?" He smiles, standing again. "You left that there, you know."

"...What? No. Falsehood! You're a liar, certainly you must be able to manipulate the surroundings. And somehow you got Patton to believe such as well." He straightens his posture, glaring at the serpent. 

"Acting so innocent… But you're just a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'm not the only one you've threatened, hm? You've scared others before, right? You've  _ killed  _ others! Surely this isn't out of the realm of possibility, little wolf! I bet you're just waiting for the day I escape so you can kill me  _ yourself _ !" The snake shouts, drawing closer still to Logan. 

"Quiet! This is all utter nonsense." He wills himself to not step back, standing his ground. "You simply want to get under my skin. Enough of your trickery- I'm just here to get my job done, and I  _ don't  _ have to deal with you." 

The snake straightens, and laughs, hand coming up to his mouth in an attempt to silence himself. 

"Oh little wolf, you have no idea…" He smiles, showing off his long fangs. "But, fine. Don't listen to me. No one said you had to in the first place."

Logan grits his teeth, hold on his pen tightening, before he lets out a breath. 

"You're quite an annoyance." He purses his lips, rubbing his temples and trying to get himself to calm down. Getting upset won't do any good for him. 

"Oh, I know!" He says a little too enthusiastically. "Maybe if I'm annoying enough you guys will get tired of me and throw me out."

"That wouldn't happen."

"... I know that. For someone so smart, you don't understand others very well, do you? You can't read the room, or tell sarcasm. You're just horrible when it comes to emotions and other people. Am I right?"

Deceit was, in fact, incredibly right. But Logan would never admit it. And like the snake had just said, he didn't have to listen to any of his nonsense. Though, something still tickled at the back of his mind, and his eyes once again trail to the bullet hole. It's not true, that'd be completely illogical if it were. He remembers no such thing occurring, after all. It's an illusion, perhaps. He'll have to write down that this abnormality is capable of making illusions. There's a lot of things in the works just to keep this abnormality contained. He overheard plans to remake the room so that he cannot connect to others. Then there's also the eyepatch he won't be able to remove. He wonders what else they'll do. He wouldn't be surprised if they put a muzzle on him and chained him down. That's what they did with Remus, after all. 

"You're thinking hard over there. Did you really learn so much from just standing in this room with me?" The snake asks, laying on his stomach and kicking his feet like a teenage girl, his tail swaying slowly.

Logan doesn't acknowledge him. 

Of course, remaking the room would mean they'd have to put the snake to sleep and in an even smaller containment while the room gets renovated. Most abnormalities become more violent after being temporarily relocated. He imagines that being in a dark metal box with no light at all would be alot worse than this already small, plain room. He isn't sure how abnormality's minds work, but humans being in isolation like that without light would drive someone mad, depending on how long they're kept in there for. 

Wait, why is he even thinking about this? He has to be working. 

"I doubt you will answer me honestly, but may I ask about your history before coming here." He raises an eyebrow to the reptile. 

"Of course! Why, I was born on an alien planet and was sent to earth as a child once my planet exploded." He says, a fake smile playing on his lips. 

"As expected. I'll have to ask a different time." He sighs, shaking his head. "I am surprised though. Isn't that a plot for… a superhero thing? I didn't think you'd know of such tropes."

"I lived in the woods, not under a fucking rock. I may not look like you, but I was raised mostly the same way. Yet, I'm held in captivity like a wild animal." He hisses.

"Interesting." Logan hums, writing this new information down, to which the snake curses under his breath for even giving a sliver of information about himself. 

It's silent again. The only sounds being Logan's pen scratching at the paper. This research has been going better than expected- even though he hasn't learned a lot of new things from the snake yet. Deceit has been staring at him. He's not sure why. When he chances a look, he's met with green and gold, staring him down in an unreadable expression. He raises an eyebrow, a silent question. 

"Are you really okay with dying here?" The snake asks, never tearing his eyes away. "Employees that work here aren't allowed to leave, right? Why would you accept working here and accept inevitable death? Why did you sign up for this?"

His questions made Logan uneasy in a way he didn't understand. He opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it quickly, staring. 

"Are you really okay with being forgotten, dead in this hell?" 

"How would I be forgotten?" 

The snake smiles, leaning back and laying out his hands. 

"Well, allow me to propose a… hypothetical." He starts, making dramatic gestures as he speaks. "If someone was alone in the forest, and no one saw the death blow, and no one found the body… Did the attack actually happen?" They go silent for a few seconds. 

"Of cou-"

"The answer is: nobody ever knew they existed. Therefore, nobody will care no matter what the answer is. They may as well have never been alive in the first place... Do you understand what I'm saying, Logan?" He stares, standing once again. 

"I…" He stammers, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Everyone here will be forgotten. In a few decades, their families won't be there to remember them. And this building is hidden away anyway, right? You'll die, and it'll be as if you've never been alive in the first place. Your death doesn't change anyone else's lives."

"Yes, but that could be said about death in general."

"That's true… But do you really want to die here? Die without letting yourself be known? Humans are capable of doing great things, yet you threw away your life to study freaks of nature, never to be remembered."

"I do not wish to be remembered." Logan states after a long pause. "I do not care if I make an impact or not. It is my life, and mine alone. Why should I care if no one remembers me?"

"Then why'd you throw away your freedom to work here?"

He hesitates, before settling his firm expression. "I have no obligation to tell you anything. I think I've heard quite enough from you today." He sorts his things, his posture straight. The serpent gives a low laugh. 

"Even though you're smart, your mind is so fragile. They've already got their claws around you… manipulating you like a puppet." Before Logan can argue, he continues, "But whatever… Move along, little wolf. I'm sure you're needed elsewhere."

Logan stills for a moment, staring at the serpent. There was something he was missing. But he's not quite sure what it is. He narrows his eyes.

"What is it that you're planning?" He asks. The snake smiles, as if he knew this question was coming. 

"I have no idea what you mean." He replies simply. Now, Logan could easily press the abnormality to speak more, but he didn't want to risk anything. The snake was probably venomous, after all. He does wonder what effects the venom has, but he should save that for a different meeting. He shakes his head, sighing. 

He doesn't say anything as he leaves the room. 

The halls, although employees and clerks walked to and fro, felt incredibly empty. He notices that the lights are a lot dimmer in the hallways than in the containment rooms. He's not sure how he's never noticed it until now. For the hallway that leads to Virgil's containment it makes sense. The man is terrified of the dark. But it suddenly feels dimmer everywhere in general. 

His thoughts go back to Deceit and Patton's words. It was a strange thing to think about, really. Death… illusions… so much nonsense that's hard to sort through. His head is pounding, and he can tell that he's almost at his limit. Just a bit longer though. Everything will be fine. 

It seems he only has one more task to do before going up to see A. That felt… quick. A little too quick. Days here are usually very long. Perhaps he's lost track of time again? He hopes not. That'd be very unfortunate.

But he should get to work, then he'll mentally prepare himself. 

* * *

Surprising as it is, talking to the abnormality actually calmed him. She was happy when he walked in, so that probably explains it. But now that he has no more tasks, a heavy feeling weighs him down. He hasn't been to A's office in a while. It's on the very top floor, too. His heart is beating more than it should. He shouldn't be nervous about something like this. 

Shaking his head, he enters the elevator. Usually, he doesn't mind silence, but the pressure in the elevator was suffocating. He's fine- he keeps telling himself this. The way up to his office is long. The only thing reminding him that the elevator is actually moving is the small shaking and the clanging. He flexes his fingers, before holding his hands together- adjusting them awkwardly before holding them behind his back. He couldn't tell if it was just him or if the elevator was making him shake. He straightens his posture, taking a few deep breaths. 

It's fine. He signed up for this job. He can deal with talking to an AI. 

He doesn't know how long it took for the elevator to get to the very top floor. In actuality, it was probably only a few minutes, but it felt a lot longer. 

When the doors open, he squints at the bright fluorescent lights, a huge change from the dark hallways underground. He steps out, looking around. He hears something tapping. Like soft patting against the walls. It takes him a moment to realize what he's hearing is rain. He hasn't heard the sound of rain in awhile. If only he could see it. It seems even up here there are no windows. He exhales slowly, walking down the empty, white hallways. It felt almost like a hospital, only much more quiet. The only sound present was the tapping of the rain against the building. He makes it to A's office a little quicker than he would have liked, but it's fine. The sooner this gets over with the better. 

He knocks twice on the door. 

"Hello. This is Logan. May I come in?" He asks. There's some shuffling behind the door before it opens itself. He gives a nod, walking inside. 

The room was dark compared to the bright hallways. The only light was on the large screen, and A sat in his chair, staring at Logan. Thomas was nowhere in sight. 

"Logan." He says with a nod, gesturing to the seat in front of him. He takes the seat.

"A." He says back. "May I ask why you've called me here?"

"Well, it's about yesterday's performance." He gives a smile with no feeling behind it. It looked incredibly out of place on him. "You're quite bold, I must say. Usually I would be against harming abnormalities when they haven't even breached, but…"

He leans in, and Logan feels his heart drop. 

"Between you and me, I think everyone should be taking notes from you."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Logan says, voice much quieter than usual. 

"Oh, I know." He gives a knowing look, and straightens his coat. "I know everything that happens here. And I know things you don't. Like how you threatened  _ O-01-62(H)  _ yesterday. But I already know you don't remember that."

Logan opens his mouth, trying to find the words to speak. But nothing comes out. This can't be right. This must be a trick or something. He has no memory of this. It can't be true- this is all nonsense. His grip on his knees tighten.

"You're thinking quite hard… Don't worry, I won't punish you." A promises, but with how flat his voice is, it's hard to tell if he really means it. 

"Why… How did I forget such a thing?" Logan asks, the smallest hint of distress in his voice, his eyebrows furrowing. 

"Oh, Logan. You think we don't have the technology for that stuff?" He leans on his hand. "You know, everything in this building affects our employees and their performance. The gas we release and the medicine for example."

Logan swallows, a lump in his throat at this new information. "I don't understand… why would I threaten an abnormality like that?"

The AI stares, eyes cold against him. 

"That doesn't matter, dear." He ignores the other's distress easily, rising from his chair and walking to his computer. "But enough of this. I didn't call you here to coach you through your pathetic emotions. You're a good employee. One of our best. And you… will be my ace in the deck."

"What do you mean?"

The AI is quiet for a while, staring up at the screen while Logan sits behind him. 

"You will be the key to this company's success. Thomas is set on ruining everything… But you know what's best, right dear?" He turns around, his eyes staring straight into Logan's. It made him feel a strange dread. 

"I'm… not quite sure I do." He admits, tearing his eyes away. A approaches, settling a cold metal hand against Logan's cheek. 

"Oh, you will soon enough. I expect nothing but perfection from you." He stares Logan down before slowly pulling away. 

"Yes sir." 

He hums, pleased. 

"Good, you'll do good." He nods. 

"Is there anything else you need?" 

"That is all, but-" Suddenly there's a cold press to his head and the sound of a click. He doesn't need to look up to know it's a gun. He holds his breath. "You will not utter a word about this, understand? You have information that other employees underground do not. I will know if you say anything. Understand?"

Logan holds his breath, before closing his eyes. His body is incredibly rigid, shoulders squared. "Understood."

The gun is taken away and the AI smiles. It's funny how much he smiles for an AI with supposedly no emotions.

"Good. You're dismissed then. I will send you more information later on, my ace." He waves his hand dismissively, looking back at his computer. 

Logan nods, and slowly leaves the room, the sudden brightness making him squint his eyes. He blinks a few times, sighing. He has a lot to think about, the new information still processing in his brain. The sound of rain returns to him, and he allows himself a few moments to listen before heading to the elevator. 

And once he steps inside, it takes every ounce of self control to not overload. He can wait it out just a bit longer. Just a bit longer and he can go back to his room and let his emotions out. It'd be unprofessional to breakdown like some sort of child. 

He hadn't realized how much he's built up, though. There's a throbbing pressure in his head, and he loosens his tie to make it easier to breathe. There's so much buildup. And today was a pile of different emotions he doesn't know what to do with. 

A would be ashamed. Emotions shouldn't be necessary. The shaking of the elevator is enough to ground him, but he finds himself swaying absently more than once. His fists are clenched hard, leaving crescent shapes in his palms. His jaw hurts from being so clenched.

Just a bit longer. 

The elevator shakes to a stop, and Logan has to keep himself from immediately running to his dorm. The day would be over in 3 minutes exactly. 

He reaches his dorm and then…

An alarm sounds, red lights blaring everywhere, bathing everything in a bright red that hurt his eyes. This isn't helping. It's too loud. Too bright. Too much all at once and he wants to scream. He wants to scream, he wants to scream, he wants to-

_ "Urgent! Abnormality F-06-58(W) has escaped! We need to immediately suppress it!" _

His stomach drops.

Remus escaped. 

He wants to just enter his room. He can calm down there. He can hide under his covers and wait for everything to pass. His hand itches to open the door, but he decides he can wait just a bit longer.

He's expected to do nothing but perfection, after all.

So before he can even process it, his legs are moving. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo!! Sorry this chapter took so long! Hopefully it was worth the wait, though. I feel like I could have made it better or longer, but it's already pretty long as it is rn!
> 
> By the way if you couldn't already tell, I've been using canon abnormalities from the games, as well as some of their dialogue!  
Funeral of the Dead Butterflies is definitely one of my favorites and I thought adding them into this chapter would fit really well!
> 
> Anyways!! I hope you enjoyed!


	5. Nodus Tollens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs:  
\- Body horror  
\- Blood  
\- Gun violence  
\- Dissociation  
\- Implied Depression  
\- Self-harm  
\- Major Character Injury  
\- Sensory overloads  
\- Panic attacks/ meltdowns  
\- Arguing  
\- Self deprication
> 
> Please tell me if there's anything I missed!

Growing up, Roman always had high hopes for the future. He wanted to be an actor, or a singer, or an artist, or maybe even a model. He wanted to be known. Make a statement, leave himself in the history books to be talked about even after he died. 

His brother was his biggest rival. Though Remus would have rather made movies than play in them. He always made crazy stories, and even though he'd never admit it, Roman was jealous. He was more of an artist than a writer. He can't have everything, but he sure wishes he could. 

It was selfish of him, but he knew that. He wants the things he cannot have. He envied how Remus was so careless. Reckless, careless, and  _ happy _ . He did things without thinking of the consequences, never thinking about how others see him. Roman can't help but want more and more. Envy and greed. He didn't want to be like this, but he never felt good enough. Even though he was the 'loved one' of the two, he always wanted what Remus had. He was never enough. Swallowed by his own self hatred, greed, and impossibly high standards. He had to be the perfect person. 

And for a while, he thought he had that.

Until he didn't. 

Everything had been perfect. He was handsome, he had a following, fans, and great friends. He nailed every audition. And finally-  _ finally _ \- he was going to get the role of a lifetime. He would change his life forever, become the star he had always dreamed of being. He was so, so close. His hand reached out, his fingers brushing over his goal, before his tower came crumbling underneath him, and he had never been further from his dreams ever in his life. Now all he could do was stare at the ceiling and dream of a starry night he'd never see again. 

* * *

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was pouring down mercilessly. It's been raining for a few days straight now, and the storm was brewing, no signs of calming down any time soon. But despite the heavy rain, it seemed that nothing could dampen the actor's spirits. 

As Roman arrived at his home, pulling into the driveway, he resisted the urge to immediately scream and shout with joy. But his hands shook at his sides with excitement, a big smile on his face. He looks up to the sky, letting the clouds shower him. He laughs, holding his arms out. He'd done it! He's finally getting to the top. 

He then broke into a run, nearly slipping on the pavement as he rushes to the porch. He didn't notice how all of the lights were off inside. He fumbles with his keys, missing the hole a few times from how much his hands were shaking. Once he gets it, he bursts open the door.

"Remus! I'm back! I've got the callback!" He calls, looking into the dark house. He walks in when he doesn't get an answer, assuming the other was working or fast asleep. He rolls his eyes. Typical.

As he closes the door behind him, a strange smell enters his nose. He hopes his brother didn't bring in another wild animal, or try and 'cook' again. But it was a different smell, and stung his eyes a bit. He scrunches his nose, blinking a few times. It wasn't unusual for Remus to concoct something absolutely disgusting, but something didn't feel quite right. He raises an eyebrow, flicking the lightswitch on. 

His blood runs cold at what he sees. Like the lightswitch, all of his previous excitement flipped into dread and horror. Everything was going so well, of course it had to be smashed in front of him once everything was going great. But this… 

It was like he entered a crime scene that had happened in his own home. What he thought to be a safe and warm place. It was jarring to see it be turned into what looked like a horror movie setup. 

The yellow lights illuminate the entrance. Everything was a mess. Scratches and holes scattered the white walls, shards of glass and porcelain covered the wooden floor. Things were overturned, the china cabinet had been destroyed and left sharp shards everywhere, torn clothing and ripped out hair were left scattered about. And the blood… there was so much of it. Mostly on the floors, but some got on the walls and even a few splotches landed on the ceiling. There was a big puddle, and smeared blood indicating whoever was attacked had been dragged away. 

His heart hammers in his chest, seeing the blood trail lead into the kitchen, his hand still clenched on the doorknob, his knuckles turning white. His breath catches in his throat and his body is rigid. He tries to reason with himself. Call the police and get away from the house. Text Remus. But he can't bring himself to find his phone, legs moving by themselves and running into the kitchen that was just as- if not more- destroyed as the rest of the place, the back door ajar. The faucet was running, blood stains around the sink, the fridge was somehow knocked over, it's contents smeared on the floor and mixing in with the blood. Plates and glasses were shattered, trash littered the floor. A window was broken, and the back door's handle was barely hanging on, as if something had tried pulling it off, splinters of wood around it, and the same scratch marks all over the wood. Despite the red flags, he approaches the open door, seeing footprints in the mud outside, blood in the ground barely visible- it'd probably get washed away by the rain if he waited too long. 

His mind jumps to every possible horrible conclusion. If this was some sick prank, Remus would have jumped out to scare him by now. In fact, his brother didn't seem to even be in the house. The logical part of his brain tells him to check and make sure, but another voice tells him that his brother's been kidnapped and he needs to go and find him. Somehow, he listened to that impulse instead of his rational thoughts. And he sprints like his life depends on it, practically screaming his brother's name as he enters the heavy woods behind his home, vines and roots tripping him, twigs and branches catching on his clothes and leaving rips and small scratches. Thunder booms in the distance, loud and shaking through Roman's skull and he follows nothing but the messy trail that was getting harder and harder to make sense of. 

"Remus?  _ Remus?! Where the hell are you?! _ " He shouts, his throat sore. His lungs hurt, and his legs already feel numb. He has no idea where he is. He should have called the police. He chokes on a sob, his lungs desperately trying to get more air, but he continues running, even though it feels like he might just crumble like a paper ball. 

The rain pouring down on him felt like hail, the intensity of the storm making his head and shoulders sore and his ears filled with the loud noise. He tries calling out more, but he doubts that his brother can even hear him from how loud the rain is. Or maybe it's just him. He doesn't really care.

It was already getting much darker, and he wanted to sob. He was no doubt completely lost now. And all he had as guidance were the shallow footprints that were slowly fading the longer he walked. Maybe they aren't even footprints. Maybe he's just seeing things. It's too dark to really tell. The trees felt as though they were twisting and shifting, like they wanted Roman to get lost. All of his limbs feel sore, and he can't tell if he's even crying or not. He's got a lot of scratches, but he can't even feel them. His clothes were soaked, and he didn't even realize he had been shivering. He'd definitely be getting sick. 

He gasps for breath, leaning against a thick tree. Looking around, he could see nothing but thick forest. No sign of light or city to be seen. He stumbles, and resorts to walking. How far did Remus go? Was it even Remus he was following? He regrets leaving the house more and more with every step. He shudders, rubbing his arms. 

God, he's an idiot. He should have checked to make sure Remus was still there. He should have called the police. He should have texted Remus. But here he is, not knowing where he is. Of course things had to end up like this. 

The forest was a dangerous force when it's dark. He might not be able to find his way back. He's not even sure how long he's been running. Thick roots tripped him as he stumbled through the forest. Thunder rumbles in the distance. The trees reached high into the sky, a leaf roof covering the forest and shrouding everything in darkness. The branches reached out like arms, long, curling arms in every which way. The wood was old and twisted on itself, warping the bark.

He wants to go home. He's exhausted, and mentally drained. He wants to cry. 

He considers just turning back. Maybe he didn't go as far as he thinks. But he stops in his tracks, hearing… something. He isn't sure what it was, or if it was just in his head. It was hard to hear with the heavy rain, after all. Even though it was probably a stupid thing to do, he called out. 

"Hello? Remus is that you?" He calls out, not sure if anyone would even be able to hear him. There's tense silence for a moment, and for a second he thinks it was just his imagination. But he hears the noise again, and he's not sure how he'd describe it. It was like different animals growling at the same time. Guttural and scratchy, as if they had been sore from overuse. Pained and angry, almost- but also scared. Or maybe he's looking too far into it. His eyebrows furrow, and against his better judgment, he starts walking, and finds himself in a small clearing. 

It was a small clearing in the forest, one you could easily walk past. The moon peeked through the leaves, the most light he's seen since entering these woods. There were old stones covered in moss, and rotting wooden covered in fungus. And in the center laid… something not completely human. 

It laid limp on the ground, a mass of different limbs and body parts. Like someone took apart different creatures and put them together all wrong. The anatomy of it was sickening to look at on its own. Some limbs too big or too small for the human torso, making them useless. The skin was torn around all of the new limbs, as if they had grown out of the body. 

Fear coiled in his stomach, and he wanted to scream, run, do  _ something _ . But all he could do was stand frozen. His heart hammered in his chest, and he takes a step back as it begins shifting. It looked up through unkempt hair, two green eyes staring at him, and Roman was scared for an entirely new reason, his own eyes widening.

"...  _ Remus? _ " His voice came out as barely even a whisper, his throat tightened. He shakily takes a step forward. "Oh my god…"

His brother was almost unrecognizable. His clothes were ripped to shreds and his skin was covered in dried blood, mud, and purple bruises. His mouth was forced open, a long tongue hanging out, probably too big to keep in his mouth. And rows and rows of sharp teeth. 

Too many limbs. 

He stumbles forward, to do something. Anything. Maybe he could help? He's not sure how he'd even begin to help with something like this, but… 

He lands on the ground next to his brother, not caring about the mud dirtying him. He stares at his brother for a few seconds, hands held up as he tries to figure out what to do. And he hugs him for the first time in what feels like years, not caring about the rain, or the mud, or anything else. His head floods with regret and guilt. He should have been a better brother, he should have hugged him more, included him more, talked to him more. He should have cared more. 

He sobs, his body shaking as he chokes and hiccups. He feels guilty. He doesn't know why- he didn't do this to his brother, after all. But he wishes he could have stopped it, that he could've been there and tried to help him. 

He just cries, it's the first time he had cried in a while. He holds onto his brother like a lifeline.

He doesn't know how long they sat like that. All he remembers is the peace being interrupted by a loud gunshot and a roaring cry, ringing through his ears. He's barely even able to process what's happening, time seeming to have sped up and leaving him dazed.

Looking up, there seemed to be… agents, maybe? They were surrounding them, guns locked onto his brother. 

And his brother screamed, a painful sound of its own. Like nails on a chalkboard. He cringes, jaw clenching and shoulders tensing. 

Then there's more gunfire. More blood.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" He shouts, trying to do something- anything. His brother thrashes, as another bullet hits him, and he knocks Roman back. 

He barely processed what was happening before he collided into the tree, the air getting knocked out of him and his vision spinning. His brain rattled in his skull and he wheezed, stumbling over on weak legs as he tried to desperately get some air into his lungs. He looks up, seeing his brother getting forced down onto the ground, chained and muzzled like an animal. His ears ring, and he wants to do something- but he can barely even move as his senses slip from him, and he collapses, the world slowly leaving him and having him swallowed by darkness. 

* * *

He felt exhausted. 

His body felt like lead, and the tips of his fingers were numb. He feels like he's bleeding, but he knows he isn't. He has to remind himself he's in the present.

What can he feel… He can feel his sheets. Bedsheets. They're soft, but thin. He can feel his pillow, and his hair. His hair feels damp. 

What else?

He can hear the small humming of a fan, and the distant shuffling of what he assumes is Remus. He can smell some kind of scent, like the ones used in hotels to make the rooms nicer. He doesn't remember buying any air freshener, but living with Remus he isn't too confused by it. 

He tries moving, starting with his fingers. They twitch a little, before he wiggles them out. It's a slow process, but he regains himself, grounding himself back in reality. Back in the present. 

He lets out a sigh, relaxing into the mattress. His body felt incredibly exhausted and sore. He remembers his nightmare. God, he's glad it wasn't real. It was so terrifying- it felt so real to him. He'll need to see if Remus is free to hang out today. That'd be nice. 

Slowly, he opens his eyes, before squinting, the light having been left on. Did he forget to turn the light off? He can't remember. Slowly, he sits up, and immediately his heart is hammering in his chest. 

Where the hell was he?

Was this a hospital? It seemed kind of like one. Did he get injured? What if the dream was real? No, no that can't be right. That'd be silly! He shakes his head. Maybe he got injured and he just can't remember. He doesn't feel any extreme pain, only exhaustion. If he can't remember, does that mean it's a brain problem? Oh, god.

He bites his lip, picking at his fingernails. Thinking about it is only making him worry even more. 

He hears the clicking of the door opening, interrupting him from his thoughts and he looks over quickly. A man walks in, a warm smile on his face, clipboard at his side. 

"Oh, you're awake! That's good." He gives a smile.

"... Where am I? Why am I here?" He asks, voice small from how sore his throat felt. He grimaces at his own voice, a hand rubbing at his neck and he sits up some more, ignoring how sore his muscles felt. 

"Oh! You were injured during that encounter in the woods. You've also got a fever from being out in the rain for so long!" He lightly scolds, wagging his finger. 

"Encounter…? No, no. That was… That was a dream, wasn't it?" He mumbled, looking down at the bedsheets. The man- doctor?- blinks, tilting his head. 

"A dream? No, it was very real. You've got scratches all over you if you need proof!" He smiles, adjusting his glasses. 

Roman shudders, eyes wide as he tries to process this new information. All of that was real? His brother was turned into a monster and he was beaten and chained down. 

"Where am I? Where's Remus? Is he okay?" He asks, voice frantic as he tries to get off of the bed, but the man pushes him back down. 

"You're not going anywhere. Not until you rest some more. I will explain everything, but first, you need to relax." The man says. Roman isn't sure why, but he suddenly feels tired. Maybe it was his calming energy. Maybe it was something else. But whatever it is, it doesn't matter. He takes a few breaths and sighs, nodding his head. The man smiles. 

"Good. Try and get some more sleep, alright? I need to talk with some people." He says, and without waiting for an answer, he leaves the room and the lights dim seemingly by themselves. 

He should be panicking. He should be rushing to find his brother. But something kept him in his bed. In fact, even his thoughts were starting to calm down. He feels like he should be concerned about this, but he doesn't think too hard about it. 

The room itself was nice. It was still obviously a hospital room- or he's assuming it's a hospital room- but it feels more… cozy. It was a strange sensation. He sighs, sinking back into the mattress. He didn't actually realize how tired he was. Distantly, he wonders how long he was even out for. 

But he's out like a light in a matter of minutes.

* * *

Emile stands outside of the room, smiling when the patient falls asleep. It'll be hard to explain everything to him. It always is. But it's better than leaving the poor man in the dark. Plus, he was programmed to be as comforting as possible. He's a much better fit than any of the other doctors, AIs, or sephiras! But maybe that's putting himself a little too highly. 

It was a little saddening, though. The poor man was stuck here all because of their rules. He wonders what job he'll be assigned. 

He hums when he gets a message.

** _> Message from A. _ **

** _> "Emile. Has the patient been secured?"_ **

A smile plays at his lips.

_ > "Yes! I still need to break the news to him, but I am letting him regain his energy. I assume the abnormality has it's own room as of now?" _

That was a fun thing AIs could do. Communicate without having to move a finger. He walks down the halls, going through his notes. 

** _> "Yes. It's identification code is F-06-58(W). I will assign a job to him myself after you inform him. Message me when you break the news."_ **

_ > "Yes sir!" _

After sorting out his notes, he quickly memorizes the information. Everything he needs to know about the human. He speculates this one will be harder to keep… He felt bad having to keep these humans locked up. But they were the rules. And having people out in the world knowing about abnormalities wouldn't be safe. Or at least that's what A tells him. 

Roman seems to be somewhat famous. It wouldn't be long until his disappearance is spread through the news. It seemed like a bad move to keep him here, but A was the boss. Kind of. Technically Thomas was the boss, but he hasn't entered the building in a while. So A has been taking care of things. He hasn't been doing a bad job, either. Things are running relatively smoothly, but he has noticed an increase in patients at his door. 

A lot of the people who are hired aren't the best fit for this job. They're too weak. Sometimes physically. Sometimes mentally. Sometimes both. They'd be moving jobs a lot. There's a lot more janitors and secretaries than actually needed. It's hard to find good fits for the main work- the abnormalities. 

A said he would work it out eventually. Emile doesn't know what to think of it. He's not allowed to question it. 

He sorts his files completely, and he smiles. He gives himself a mental pat on the back for doing such a good job today! He was one of the more positive AIs. He was programmed to be calming and welcoming to his human patients. The others were just programmed to do their jobs. But A is the only AI that doesn't have emotions. He's also the most developed. 

He doesn't think relationships are important, but because of how they were programmed, they acted mostly human- making connections fairly easily. Emile liked to think he was friends with most of the other AIs. 

But, oh, he's getting off track! He shakes his head, quickly sending a request for more medications they're lacking in. He needs to get the new package as well! He doesn't want to get an earful from A now, does he?

He gets back to work.

* * *

It was hard to believe, really. That his life has been taken away like this. Taken away, and then telling him to work for his kidnappers. That's what they are. They took him from everything. All he has left from his home are some clothes, toiletries, his notebook and a few trinkets. They raided his home and took what they thought he needed. And of course he needed his clothes and such… but this isn't a way of living. This isn't living. 

He had already shed many tears over this. He was angry, sad, frustrated. It was all so much to process in such a short amount of time. And now they expect him to sit still and be an obedient little slave to their disgusting system. 

He sat in his room. He shared a room with someone now. He hasn't shared his room with someone since he was a kid. He didn't even know who he was sharing this depressing room with. Whoever they were, they weren't here yet. That much he's glad for. It would be embarrassing to be caught weeping over this. But how could he not mourn? His life was now in shambles at his feet. Everything he had tried to achieve smashed in front of him. His brother is a monster. And his freedom was forcibly taken from him. 

He sighs, folding his last shirt and putting it in his small closet. He wanted to scream, throw a tantrum. He should be more upset- and he is! But he's so exhausted. The most exhausted he had ever felt in his life. He wants to get angry, but even trying to get upset made him feel so incredibly tired. It felt as if there was a hole where his heart used to be. Maybe he's just being dramatic. But that's truly how it felt. His life was taken from him. And he'd eventually die in this prison.

He'd die here.

Death… He never really thought about death until now. He had only dreams for success. He never had to think about it much. But… He'd  _ die  _ here. A cold pressure weighs him down. So heavy he feels like he's caving in on himself. He doesn't want to die here. He can't be forgotten here.

He balls his fists, lowering his head. He can't do this. This is too much. He doesn't want this. Why did any of this happen? How did Remus become something like that? How did they even find him? Why does he have to be trapped here? 

A throbbing pain shoots through his arm, and it takes him a moment to realize he had punched the wall. He blinks slowly, retracting his shaking arm. His fingers jittered, knuckles already starting to bruise. He feels like he should be shocked. Scared. Feel something. But instead, he doesn't feel anything at the moment. He flexes his fingers out, holding his wrist before balling his fist again, punching the wall again, pain biting at him. It hurt. 

Why is he doing this? He isn't sure. He doesn't want to hurt himself. Or at least he doesn't think he wants to. The blood on his knuckles and the wall suggest otherwise. 

He was overcome with the overwhelming urge to just break his arm. The thought came so suddenly. He should have been bothered by it, but instead he just stared at his arm, the thought dancing around his head. 

Instead, he resorts to punching the wall once more, before standing up, going to the small bathroom. There must be a med kit, right? He rummages through the cabinets, not really thinking as he wraps up his hand. There's so much to think about. A lot of things he'd rather not think about. So instead, he shuts down, his body running on auto-pilot. He flexes his fingers once more when he finishes wrapping his hand up. It still hurts, but at least he's not ignoring it completely. 

He's not sure how much time has passed since then. Maybe minutes, maybe hours, or maybe it's been only a breath. He snaps out of his trance when he hears the door open. He blinks, looking over to see a man enter the room, staring at Roman before quickly looking away. It was just then Roman realized he probably looks like an absolute mess. But he can't bring himself to care, or even be embarrassed. What's the point? 

His roommate didn't seem any better than him anyway. With such dark eyebags and skin so pale. He was incredibly thin, and Roman wondered how much this guy eats. He looked maybe a few years younger than him, and he can't help but wonder how or why this guy ended up here. 

"Um…" He starts, but pauses, not entirely sure how to continue. The other looks over, nervously shifting in place. 

"Oh. Hi." He says simply, body stiff. Roman offers a small smile. 

"I'm Roman." He says, tilting his head a little. 

"Y-Yeah… I figured as much. You're… kind of famous." He coughs, looking away, shifting again. "Uh… Virgil. My name. Virgil Strange."

"Virgil Strange." He repeats, smiling. "How'd you end up with such a mysterious name, Mr. Strange?"

Roman laughs and Virgil huffs out a laugh, blowing some hair out of his face. "Chose it myself."

"Ah." He nods, leaning back. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah." He nods, shuffling.

He doesn't mention Roman's bandaged hand, or the blood on the wall.

* * *

Virgil was a good roommate. A little difficult to deal with at times, but he was nice. They had similar interests, but they had differing opinions also. They often bickered. It made being here a little less terrible. Talking to Virgil made him temporarily forget the situation he's in. Roman likes to call them friends. They have a bond he can't quite explain. 

It felt familiar.

And then he was given his first job. And of course, his first job was his own brother. It was scary. Apparently he wouldn't cooperate with any other employee, so they're deciding to see if Roman would be any different.

* * *

Roman sat in his room, finishing up a miniscule task that doesn't even really matter. He doesn't have a proper job here. Not like he wants one. Working for his captors is the last thing he wants. But he may be forced to, a thought he doesn't like. On one hand, he'd like to live longer, but on the other death might be merciful compared living like this. 

He didn't like thinking about that.

Huffing, he leans back in his bed, staring up at his ceiling. This room was nothing like the one at home. His room was magical, with fairy lights and so many decorations. Paintings and books, stuffed animals and soft pillows. He may be an adult, but he longed to cuddle up with a teddy bear, reading a nice book next to a window. 

This room just made him depressed. Metal walls, no windows. It was like a prison cell. Sure, he had books and some trinkets, as well as his notebook to doodle if he needed, but… It's not a place to live in. And even with the lights on, the room felt so dark and dreary. Maybe that was the intent. He doesn't know.

He wasn't sure what time it was. He doesn't have the best mental clock, and having no windows didn't really help. There was a calendar but he never checked it regularly, and he didn't cross off the days. So he doesn't even know if it's still April. He stopped counting after a week. The days started blurring together. He feels like he may as well just rot into nothing but bones. 

He sighs, rubbing his eyes. He was so tired. Even though he spent the majority of his time sleeping, he was just so tired. He was tempted to just get under the covers and fall asleep. It's not like he had anything better to do. 

But, right as he decides that it wouldn't hurt to sleep some more, he hears a buzz. He sighs, kicking off his blankets and sitting at the edge of the bed for a moment. He tries to give himself some hope. Maybe it's Virgil. Maybe it's some good news. He doesn't fully believe either of those, but he stands up anyway, already missing the warmth. 

He goes to the small desk, one he and Virgil shared. Though Virgil usually did things while sitting in his bed, so Roman was the one who used it the most. 

He picks up his tablet and swipes his hand to see who had messaged him. And he pauses.

A?

Wasn't A the boss of this company? Should he be nervous? Scared? He blinks slowly, sitting down in his squeaky chair, staring at the name. He hasn't opened the message yet. 

He knows little to nothing about A. He doesn't even know what A looks like. He's heard some things from Virgil, about how the AI doesn't possess emotions. 

He takes in a breath, and opens up the message. 

** _> "Roman Prinz, _ **

** _It has come to my attention that F-06-58(W), your brother, has been uncooperative with employees. He has injured and even killed some. _ **

** _Since we have given you enough time to recover, we would like you to join the Control Team- the team your brother is being held by. We believe that because you are related to him, he will not affect you as badly as the others. _ **

** _You are not allowed to deny this offer._ **

** _Your uniform and tools will be sent to you within the day. You should expect a weapon, files, medication, a clipboard, and a watch that will give you your assignments. _ **

** _The Control Team Sephira, Remy, will teach you how to use your supplies, and how to better survive when working with abnormalities. _ **

** _Best of luck._ **

** _-A"_ **

… This was not what he was expecting. He isn't sure what he was expecting. Maybe he thought they wouldn't be this cruel. He has to study his own brother like he's an experiment? A project? It's cruel. The identification code is just adding to it. Taking away what is left of Remus's humanity, reducing him to a creature that needs to be studied. 

He clenches his fist and closes his eyes. He didn't want to follow their rules. He didn't want to do their dirty work. He wanted to stomp and scream and fight them. 

But there was a part of him that still feared dying. His self preservation stopping him from wanting to fight this horrible system. It was so hard. He hates this. He just wants to go home. 

As promised, his things were delivered to him. A nice uniform, the files, clipboard, medication, watch and… The weapon. A gun. It felt too heavy in his hands. He hated the feeling. He didn't want to get used to the feeling. He just hoped he would never have to pull the trigger. It didn't feel any better in his coat. 

He wasn't sure what the medication was for. The prescription names weren't any he recognized, and their side effects weren't even listed. Needless to say, he didn't really trust taking these. 

The idea of studying his brother didn't sit right with him for many reasons. Even if it's his brother, what if he's not in the right state of mind? What if Remus hurts him? He wants to trust his brother, but he has no idea what to expect. It's scary, really. He doesn't want to be scared. 

It was all so unfamiliar to him. The elevator shook as he descended, it made him feel uneasy, like the floor might collapse under him at any moment. 

The hallways were better, but he still felt dread building up inside of him. He seemed to be on the right floor. They all seemed so similar, the only differences being the lobby areas for the different teams. The lobby had a soothing aura to it, but he was still incredibly shaken. He could die. He's going to die in this building. He swallows, a lump tight in his throat. He's terrified. He holds his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking. 

He's supposed to learn stuff from the… sephira? Is that what it was called? Maybe he'll just sit down and wait. The sephira is probably busy. 

As he sits down, his foot automatically starts tapping, not that he even noticed. His foot always taps when he sits. Though today he was especially jittery- again, not like he noticed, his brain going in a hundred different directions at once. He isn't sure when he began to space out. Maybe it started the second he entered the lobby. He's not sure. 

But he slowly came back to reality, and it took him a moment to realize there was someone in front of him. He blinks, looking up. 

"Can I help you?" He asks. The man laughs, crossing his arms. 

"Uh, more like can  _ I _ help  _ you _ . I'm here to teach you the ropes, but you're over here staring out into space." The sephira- Remy, he's guessing- laughs.

This wasn't what he had expected. The AI was so human that it made him a little uncomfortable. Not to mention the attire. He didn't look like a professional at all, even though he was quite literally made for this job. He wore his suit jacket casually, a plain t-shirt underneath, and sunglasses despite being inside. He looked like a guy you'd find in a coffee shop or a house party. He was a weird combination of the two. 

"Listen, I know I'm pretty, but get your eyes off the goods for a second." He snaps his fingers, and Roman looks up, biting his lip from embarrassment. "Good. As you probably already know, I'm Remy, the Control Team Sephira. Now stand up! No time to sit around, let's get things rolling! Chop chop, we don't have all day!"

The AI's energy actually managed to calm him down some. He feels like without a more positive energy, he'd absolutely crumble. He's glad he got Remy. He's not sure what the others are like, but if they're anything like A, he doesn't want to find out. Remy was so… human. Animated and chatty- you probably wouldn't even second guess him if he were released in the public. It was fascinating, but also terrifying. He wonders why they're so human in the first place. 

"Your job is pretty easy, really. When you're asked to talk to an abnormality, all you need to do is go in there, talk to them, get notes, and then get the hell out. You'll send notes to A so he can better study the abnormality and give people useful information to better deal with them." Remy explains as they walk, waving his hands around as he speaks. 

"Your gun will be for protection, mostly. If an abnormality gets out, try to suppress it with your weapon. If a co-worker loses their sanity, do the same. You can suppress an employee without killing them, but it's difficult." He looks over. "You're following what I'm saying, right?"

"Yeah…" Roman nods, eyebrows furrowed together. It was complicated but it seemed simple enough. 

"Cool, cool. Your medicine will help with pain and steady your mental state. The vents already pump out gas that calms people's minds, but the medicine is just an extra precaution." He hums, pausing and whirling around to look at Roman. "Any questions?"

He wasn't sure. This was all so much at once. Without really thinking, he shakes his head.

"Okay! Get to work, then!" He pats his back before walking off. Roman watches, before feeling a buzz at his wrist. He looks down, seeing that he had an assignment on the small screen.

Work with  _ F-06-58(W) _ ... Or, his brother. Of course they'd give him the hardest job first. He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, taking a moment before calming down somewhat. He wasn't outwardly panicking, but he was incredibly nervous- he was just a good actor. He doesn't want to be afraid of his brother. 

He steps into the long hallway, the metal under his feet clanking whenever he takes a step. He hated the noise. It made him grimace, and he wanted to rub and scratch his arms at the noise. He isn't even sure why it's bothering him this bad. But the sound was too loud in his ears. 

He nearly walks past the door, taking a few steps back to look at it. His brother was in there, being treated like an experiment. And he was being forced to treat him like an experiment. And he was  _ complying _ . That thought made him sick. A part of him yelled this wasn't his fault, it he doesn't obey they might kill him. But another part whispers in his ear that Remus wouldn't hesitate like this. Remus would fight for Roman if their roles were swapped, so why isn't he doing the same? He wanted to throw up.

A had said he had already injured and killed other employees. Even if they're brothers, what if Remus is too far gone to recognize him? What will he do then? Will he die?

Gathering up all of his courage, he opens the door and steps into the cell. 

The cell was small and plain. And Remus laid, chained down and a muzzle on his face. He still had wounds that weren't quite healed, ugly scars and raw skin around his new limbs. Looking at it all made him feel sick.

Slowly, his brother looks up, the chains moving as he lifts up his head. Roman wanted to cry. 

"God… What happened to you, Remus?" He asks, voice so soft as he takes a step forward. All Remus can do is stare. His muzzle keeps his jaw shut, and Roman imagines how painful it must be. He remembers all of the teeth and his long tongue. It must hurt to force it closed- his jaw is still human it seemed. He wonders if Remus could even speak  _ without _ the muzzle. He couldn't even fit his tongue in his mouth… Remus instead growls and he lowers his head. It's then that Roman realizes he's crying.

Roman hasn't seen him cry in years. He's had meltdowns and tantrums, but it was rare to see the man shed tears. He walks forward, landing in front of him. He holds up his arms where Remus can see them. 

"Can I touch you?" He asks softly. Remus doesn't respond, only curling up more on himself. Roman slowly puts a hand on the human shoulder, before pulling his brother into a hug. Remus was cold, so cold he almost flinched at the touch. But slowly, he relaxes, and closes his eyes. Closing his eyes, he can almost convince himself he's just consoling Remus over something. 

It reminds him of when they were kids. How they'd hold each other like lifelines whenever something bad had happened. Whenever one of them got in trouble or got hurt. They had no one else to turn to after all. All they had was each other. 

And it seems that it's going to be that way again. All Remus had was him… he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. 

Roman forgets about his job for a while.

* * *

It was nearing 7 months, he thinks.

Virgil has been acting strange. 

Not that he wasn't weird already, but he'd been more jumpy as of late. Flinching at every sudden movement, and sneaking out at night when he thinks Roman is still sleeping. 

He's barely talking anymore. Not even to Patton. It was worrisome. And even worse, he refused to talk about it, even though they'd tried bringing it up so many times. 

Virgil was smart. Scarily so. You wouldn't think so looking at him, but his knowledge competed with Logan's. He seemed to know things most other employees didn't. But despite being smart, he was bad at hiding his emotions. That's what seperated Logan and Virgil, he thinks. Virgil was more emotional than Logan. 

He's been hiding things. Roman isn't sure what it is he's hiding. Or why he'd need to hide it. Obviously, it's not his business, and Virgil can tell him whenever he's ready. But at the same time, what if it's important? What if Virgil's in danger? What if he doesn't trust Roman?

He tries not to get into it, he really does try, but it's hard. His emotions take the better of him a lot of the time. 

He stopped Virgil before he could leave the room, grabbing his arm. He knows the other hates being touched, and he feels bad for it, but stays put. Virgil stares at him, like a deer caught in headlights. 

"Virgil. Please, I know you've been hiding something. I've tried asking you before, but you never answer… Are you in danger?" He asks, squeezing lightly.

Virgil swallows, eyes darting everywhere, before eventually landing on Roman.

"... I…" He starts, hesitating. There's a beat of silence, his fingers twitching as he looks between the floor, his arm, and Roman. He wets his lips before continuing. "I can't tell you… I will- I just… Can't. Not here. Not now. But, I will tell you someday. I promise… I'll be fine. I think… If everything works out, it'll be fine."

They stare at each other for a moment, before Roman sighs, letting go slowly, arm dropping to his side..

"... Okay. I just… worry about you, Virgil." He says, looking at the ground and rubbing his arms. Virgil nods, looking down. He swallows, fiddling with a loose thread on his jacket before speaking up. 

"... If worst comes to worst… You're smart. I trust you'll figure things out." He says. Roman isn't sure what he means. "I gotta get to work. Sleep well."

He leaves before Roman can say anything.

  
  


It seemed that things did not turn out fine like Virgil said they would. In fact, it was quite horrible. When he heard the news, he wanted to scream. He wanted to kick and scream and throw a tantrum. Why the hell is this happening? 

Virgil was reported to have turned into an abnormality. Apparently he had gotten too close, and that's when he was attacked. 

Is this what he was talking about? But it doesn't make any sense! Virgil would never let that happen. He's way too careful. He's too smart to make a mistake like that. It was weird. It didn't feel right, what the company said about what happened. 

Maybe he's beginning to think like Virgil, but this didn't feel right at all. Hell, he wasn't even allowed to see him. He's barely even allowed to mourn. 

Patton must be taking it hard.

Roman sighs, looking at the empty bed at the other side of the room. They haven't taken Virgil's stuff out yet. He's not sure if they will- since there's a possibility he could be healed. He hopes they don't take his things. It'd be far too lonely and dull in this room without it. Or maybe he'd feel lonely either way, knowing Virgil might not recover. He was already being treated as a test subject, and while they had said they tried to help, Roman isn't too sure he believes that.

He was never allowed to touch Virgil's stuff. Which was understandable. They respected each other's privacy. But, now that Virgil was gone… 

No, no, he can't be thinking like that! He's not gonna go through his friend's stuff, that's just weird and gross!

However, something tickled at the back of his mind. For some reason, he couldn't tear his eyes off of the other's bed. He's not sure why. There was something… Something strange was happening, and he's not sure what. 

He had a strange feeling in his gut, his mind slowly tuning out like a radio, and it feels all too quiet, his heartbeat being the only thing he can hear. He's not sure what's happening, but something is wrong. He feels wrong. An almost sick feeling overtakes him. 

He doesn't move, he doesn't look away. Its as if he were a TV on pause, not moving a muscle as his eyes stared at the purple bed. 

Something isn't right. 

Slowly, he raises from where he's sitting and walks to the other side of the room. It's as if he's being controlled. He doesn't know why, but he immediately searches underneath the bed. 

At first, he finds nothing. Until he notices a seam in the floor. It's so light and hardly there. You wouldn't be able to find it unless you were looking for it, but he can feel it at his fingertips, the barely there seam in the floor. Furrowing his eyebrows, he digs his nails into it, and it takes a bit of force to get it open, his nails hurting when he finally gets it. Inside was what seems like a small compartment. It's small, and the only thing inside was a dusty box.

Slowly, he takes the metal box out, blowing off the dust and wiping it away. He holds it carefully, inspecting it. 

On the top of it read 'Guess'. 

Roman had no idea what to expect. The box was locked by an eight digit number combination lock. He didn't even know where to begin. The box was weighty, so it must have something inside. The rest of it is remarkably plain, and there's nothing too noteworthy about it. Though, holding it gave him a weird feeling he didn't even know how to describe. 

"Virgil, what have you gotten me into?" He whispers, slowly putting the box back. He'd crack at it later- right now, he couldn't risk anything. For some reason, something told him not to let anyone know about this. 

Even though he feels like Logan could solve this, something tells him not to tell Logan, too. 

Whatever this box is, and whatever is inside… It's important. Roman doesn't know why, but he can feel it in his bones. 

Carefully, he raises from the floor and goes back to his own bed. 

Still, it stung. It seems that whoever gets near Roman will just turn into a monster. 

Was he cursed? Is that it? 

He doesn't know. He just wants his brother back. He just wants his friend back.

Still, he had to do this for Virgil. Whatever had happened, he needs to figure it out. Virgil trusted him with this. He didn't know what he was getting himself into, really. He had a feeling he was getting into deep water with this, but he found that he didn't really care. What did he have to lose, really? Not much. They'd already taken so much from him. 

He needs to do something. Slowly, his eyes land on his notebook. He blinks slowly, an idea forming in his head. 

"I believe in you Virgil, this better be worth it." He mutters, opening up the empty notebook. 

* * *

It has become routine. He's not sure how long he's been here, but things seem to have improved somewhat. 

New abnormalities coming in daily, new jobs, checking on Remus. He's been doing better with his personal research as well. He wasn't as smart as Logan or Virgil, but he thinks he's getting somewhere with it.

Thomas is back. He didn't know Thomas even existed, really. Well, he knew about Thomas, but he didn't think the man was even alive. There was alot going on. Logan worried him, really. Something strange was happening with him. He worried that Logan would turn into an abnormality next. Maybe it was his curse. Virgil acted weird before turning, too. 

He hated that he was never able to help. He couldn't help anyone, it seemed. 

And even worse, he was forced to stay in his room today. He couldn't check on them. He was sick, somehow. He doesn't know how he got sick. He doesn't get sick easily. He was told to rest, but he couldn't. He paced around his room, picking at his now chipped nails. He was worried about Remus. 

What would Remus do since he's absent today? Would he be more aggressive? Would he kill someone again? He's not sure. He hopes that Remus won't be too aggressive. But he can never tell. His brother is a wild card, really. 

He paces around his room, picking at his nails. He needs to stop thinking about this- he could use this free time to get things done. He could continue working with the box or with his research. That'd be fine. In fact, he should really continue with it if he wants to help Virgil. 

Settling on that idea, he takes out the box. It's been hard to do, and he's been guessing like the box has said. He'd been trying to just go digit by digit, but he realized it would take forever if there's 8 digits. It'd be easier if there were maybe 4. But it was honestly kind of frustrating.

He isn't sure what to even expect when he opens the box. Maybe it's nothing, maybe it'll be life changing, maybe it will help him get out of here. He doesn't know. Virgil is so full of secrets, and he can't ask him directly. It was frustrating. 

It probably wasn't the best idea to do this while he's already sick, but now he's set on doing this, even though it makes his head want to explode. 

He switched between working on the box and going through his notes. In fact, he hadn't realized the day was almost over. He turns the digits, and…

An alarm goes off.

He jumps, nearly throwing the box off of him. At first he thought it was coming from the box, but he quickly realized that it was coming from the building. He looks around, hiding the box and jumping to his feet, completely alert. And he heard what he dreaded to hear. 

_ "Urgent! Abnormality F-06-58(W) has escaped! We need to immediately suppress it!" _

His stomach dropped, and his blood ran cold. God, no. He needs to do something. 

And so he runs.

The first trumpet had already sounded, blood coating the hallways and screams echoing, everything bathed in a flashing red light. Three have already died and six are panicking- they'd probably end up dead as well. 

He was violent. Of course he would be. He'd been chained down and tested on. He prowled down the halls, thick blood stains on his claws and matting at his hair. He was chimeric, as if someone had taken animal parts and swapped them around. The anatomy was all wong. He was hardly even human at this point, just an amalgamation of different horrors, new limbs he couldn't control and too many rows of teeth, a long tongue that couldn't fit in his mouth. 

Blood dripped from him, some of it his own, most of it from others. He shambles, attacking anything that dares come near him. And oh, how it hurt. Every movement felt like shards of glass digging into his limbs, his new bones frail and threatening to dislocate if he made one wrong move. It didn't hurt as much as it first did though.

Transforming into the beast he is now was the most painful thing he had ever experienced. What felt like a festering of bugs inside of him, swarming. Flesh ripping and muscles tearing, bones snapping and skin being shredded like paper. The growth of new bones, new teeth, new claws. His mouth felt too full, he couldn't close his jaw. There was an invisible fire dancing on his skin, burning him but not killing him. At that point, death would be merciful. 

The sirens screamed in his ears, and he screams with them. 

Roman never expected his life to turn out like this. Stuck underground in the middle of nowhere, fighting off other employees so they don't kill his brother that wasn't even human anymore. A beast of his own creation. 

It felt like forever before he finally got to the floor Remus was being kept on.

Shoving through everyone else, wincing at every gun shot, he bursts into the room and sees his brother drenched in blood that wasn't his own. He wasn't sure if that was better or worse. 

" _ Remus! _ " He shouts, running forward. 

And as soon as he gets close, an itchy pain goes through his chest, and his shirt is suddenly wet. It takes him a moment to realize Remus had attacked him. He stumbles back, holding onto himself. He gasps, the pain spreading as soon as he realized what had happened. It hurts, and he hugs his chest to try and stop the bleeding without much success. 

A bullet whizzed past him and landed into his brother's collarbone. He screams, and Roman stumbles forward. 

"Stop it, don't hurt him!" He yells, and he suddenly feels as if he's back in the forest, but this time it feels so much worse.

They don't listen to him, guns trained on the abnormality that was his brother. 

He rushes forward, ignoring the burning pain. His brother thrashes and screams, and once Roman gets close again, he was flung into the metal wall. There's a loud bang as the air leaves his lungs, pain shooting through his back and head. Black spots danced around in his vision. His ears rang, and the world seemed to spin around him. His throat felt dry and he tasted blood. 

He gasps for breath, his legs threatening to collapse under him. His chest burned, and his head and back ached as he slowly pushes himself off of the wall, stumbling as he stares at his brother, the ground spinning like a spinning top, threatening to topple him over. 

"Remus…" His voice comes out a lot weaker than he would have liked. He's not sure why he's doing this. It's obvious he can't reason with his brother in this state. 

But he's not thinking right. He gasps, stumbling forward and reaching out for his brother.

"It's me, please." He says breathlessly. His brother screams, pushing him back.

And he tumbles down, landing on the floor without much effort. He felt overwhelmed. So much noise, so much spinning. He wanted to vomit. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt.

Logan enters the room. Roman thinks, for maybe a second that he will stop the employees from hurting his brother. But instead his eyes narrow on the blood staining Roman's shirt. 

He moves quickly, calculated in every step as he grabs Roman and shoots his brother in one of the legs, making him fall to the ground. It went straight into the knee, and he feels sick at the sight. There's so much noise all at once. Roman hears screaming, and it takes him a moment to realize that it was him that was screaming. 

"He's injured! Hold him down until someone comes!" Logan commands, pulling Roman along. 

"Stop, no! I need to go back!" He yells, voice panicked as he struggles in Logan's grip, trying to pull away. 

"Are you insane? He almost killed you! He's not your brother anymore, just treat him like any other abnormality!" Logan's voice was acidic, spitting out the harsh words like poison on his tongue. Roman doesn't realize that Logan's being more moody than usual. He doesn't stop himself from yelling back. He simply lets his emotions get the best of him, not thinking about this logically.

" _ Shut up _ ! What the hell would you know?! Let go of me!" He struggles again, ignoring the burning pain and the blood staining his clothes. 

"You're injured you complete moron! He could kill you!" Logan completely turns, shouting in Roman's face.

"I don't care! You all could kill  _ him _ !" Roman yells back, blinking the angry tears out of his eyes, his breath heavy from yelling so much.

"I don't care if he dies." Logan says, gripping tighter and tugging at Roman. He stumbles, choking on a sob. There'll definitely be a bruise there later. "Do you want to continue freaking out and end up killing yourself? I don't think you do. So shut the hell up and follow me."

His voice was so cold, and it felt like Roman was getting stabbed through the heart with sharp ice spears. It was scarier when he wasn't yelling. Just a silent building rage. Roman opens his mouth to argue, but he finds that he's more exhausted than he had remembered.

"I just want to help him…" Roman whispers. Logan is quiet for a moment as they walk, before sighing.

"... Trying to help him would be like playing russian roulette with a fully loaded gun." Logan states, not looking at Roman. "You're just killing yourself."

Roman blinks away tears, not having a response to that. Maybe Logan was right. Maybe he was just killing himself, but he just wants to save his brother. Is that such a bad thing? To want to help his brother? He doesn't know. He feels like a child again. 

Except children don't have to worry about dying at every second. 

He feels heavier with every step he takes, and it feels as if his legs might just crumble underneath him. 

Logan was shaking, Roman distantly noticed, but didn't say anything. He wonders what happened to get Logan so shaken like this. He wonders if he's just adding onto the other's stress. He wouldn't doubt it, he was mostly a hindrance to the others. That much he knows by this point. He wanted to cry, he wanted to throw up, he felt so overwhelmed. Everything was too much. The noise, the flashing, the pain. His head is pounding. 

His consciousness slips through his grasp like running water. He's out in a matter of minutes. 

This whole day was out to kill Logan, he was sure of it. There was so much happening in the span of one day. He felt on the verge of his inevitable breakdown, but he wasn't even at his dorm yet. So he put the lid on the overflowing boiling pot that was his emotions for now, dragging himself to the elevator with and unconscious Roman in his arms. 

He sometimes wished he could turn himself off like a computer. This was too much to deal with. He knows this is what he signed up for, but… It was overwhelming. 

He adjusts his hold on Roman, a sigh leaving his lips. He hopes Remus was taken care of. He doesn't want to admit it, but he wishes Remus would stop being such a huge problem. He caused Roman so much distress. Roman was playing with a loaded gun. He'd end up dead the second he decides to pull that trigger.

For all of the distress he causes, Logan truly did not care for Remus. In fact, as cruel as this sounds, it'd be better if the brother was dead. Then neither of them would be suffering. It would be merciful, really. 

He looks down at his friend, sighing. Remus was too much trouble. Roman… didn't deserve this. So much distress. 

He huffed, shaking his head. He shouldn't be getting so overwhelmed. It's stupid. 

Stepping onto the elevator, he adjusts his hold on his friend. Guess they'd be going up. 

Blood stained his arm and chest, holding up his friend. From what he could tell, it wasn't too deep, but his additional panicking probably worsened it. He sighs, and the elevator slowly ascends. 

He swallows as he waits impatiently, his legs shifting and feet tapping. He just wanted to drop Roman off and get back to his room. He was practically hanging onto the edge, trying so desperately to not let his fingers slip. 

The elevator shakes slightly. The only noise was the elevator and Roman's soft breathing. Logan felt his focus slipping as they go up. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad if he let himself go on autopilot. He shakes his head, adjusting Roman once more, his arm starting to get tired. 

When the doors finally open, there are nurses and doctors already rushing around. He steps into the hallway, and a nurse notices the injured Roman, taking him without another word. Logan wasn't even able to say anything as he was taken away. His arm felt a bit numb from carrying his weight the whole way here. 

He stands there for a moment, just staring at everything happening. It was all over, right? He wasn't expected to go down and continue dealing with Remus, right? He sure hopes not. 

He breathes out a sigh, blinking a few times before going back into the elevator.

It was then he became too aware of the blood on his clothes. He hated the feeling. It was so sticky and it bothered him more than t should have, his skin itching. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself. He was so close to his room, he could feel himself starting to unwind, and there were only a few strings left- enough to keep him from unraveling. 

He swallows, wetting his lips and unconsciously scratching at his arms. 

When the elevator opens, he has to stop himself from sprinting to his room. 

He steps out, and reaches his door. He enters, and he immediately collapses, his breathing heavy and mind racing. He peels the blood stained shirt off of him, hating the way it feels and rubbing at the red stains on his skin. 

So much. It was so much. It all hit him like a truck the second he stepped into his room, all of the confusion and fear and anger and everything else. All of today's overwhelming emotions crashing over him like a wave. 

He ducks his head between his legs. He feels like a child. He feels weak. He wasn't doing good enough.

He thinks about today. About the accusations, about the bullet hole in the wall, about how heavy his gun felt, about talking with A, about being used as A's card, Remus escaping, Roman getting injured.

And he screams. 

It was a horribly pained sound, tearing from his throat so suddenly. He screams, his lungs and throat burning as he curls up tighter on himself, his eyes burning and his mouth tasting like iron. His head was ringing, and the minute his screaming stopped, the room felt all too quiet. All he could hear was a ringing in his ears and the pounding of his heart. 

He screams again, vomiting out all of his emotions through his screams. All of his pent up emotions spilling out of him. He felt sick. He hated this. He felt childish. 

His skin itched all over, and he wanted to peel it off. He hated these thoughts. They weren't logical at all. He knew they weren't. Yet he still had them, and it made him feel sick.

He bangs his head on the floor, trying to get the thoughts to stop. He knows by doing this, he's just feeding into those thoughts, but his body moved by itself, and when his meltdowns get this far, there's usually nothing to stop it. 

His head was pounding, his heart reverberated in his chest, and a ringing screamed in his ears. His throat was quickly dying out. He never used it this much. It felt like it was tearing. 

Was he crying? When did he start crying? He doesn't know. It's all so much. 

He wants to vomit. 

He blacks out easier than he would have liked to admit. 

Waking up on the floor was an experience in of itself. It was jarring, waking up on the cold floor feeling weak and dehydrated. His limbs shook, and his fingers jittered. He stares down at his hands and sighs. 

Today was another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter took so long! I didn't expect it to even run this long, but hopefully you enjoyed!   
I was a bit worried about posting this since im sure most readers came for the Loceit ahah. But hopefully you enjoyed this! And hopefully the next part wont take me almost 20 days to make. But lets not jinx it oof  
Thank you for reading!


	6. The Rabbit in the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know I've been dead for. A long time now, and that I haven't updated since december i believe. But i'm back! This story is not dead- I'm currently writing chapters and I'm not sure how long they'll take or how soon they'll be posted but know I'm back and this story is still going!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs for this chapter!
> 
> \- Mentions of death  
\- Mentions of injury  
\- Minor Threats  
\- Blood  
\- Medical Talk  
\- Brief Imagery of being watched  
\- Mentions of body horror  
\- Implied attempted murder  
\- Mention of someone getting shot
> 
> If I missed anything please do tell me!

A sat at his monitor, watching the chaos unfold. There was no emotion on his face. There's many dead and injured bodies on the cameras. It was one thing to have an abnormality escape, but one so dangerous. At least F-06-54(W) isn't the most dangerous. He has far worse things up his sleeve. Though don't be confused, it's not like he's trying to kill his employees. But, if they cannot handle the job they were given, then they're better off dead.

He doesn't want his abnormalities dead, either. Not that he cares for the abnormalities in the slightest. Truly, he thinks a majority are a burden. But it's his job to research these things. He was programmed to. Usually, they try their best to not kill the abnormalities. But some are just dangerous. And some deserve to be put down. Maybe he'll start offing the ones they don't need information from anymore. Or perhaps replace them so his employees actually get new results.

He watches the creature on the monitor get subdued, sighing at the mess it had left behind.

Roman…. Roman was going to be troublesome if he continued acting so emotionally. He knew this was a possibility from the very beginning. It was risky bringing him here, but it would have caused more problems letting him stay outside. There's been plenty of headlines since his disappearance. Stories, videos, theories… Though A's team made sure they got rid of any trace of them ever being there. They can't have the outside know about this place. It'd be far too dangerous- especially with the state of things right now.

He sighs, watching the monitor. Sephiras dragging the bodies away and people coming in to clean up all the blood. After the hallways are cleared of people, he presses down on a button, letting him speak directly to the team's sephira.

"Remy." He speaks into his microphone, on his camera, he sees the other AI freeze up.

_ "Yes, A?" _

"Because of your incompetence, you let three of the six members on your team die, as well as employees from other teams. We have a death total of eleven from just that escape." He says smoothly, his voice and tone never once changing.

_ "I'm sorry, sir, it wont happen again, I assure you." _

A hums, raising an eyebrow. It was strange knowing the other AIs had emotions. Synthetic, but still emotions. Remy almost sounds human. He closes his eyes.

"If you fail 3 more times we'll have to decommission you." He speaks simply, hearing the silence from those words. "There's no need to be scared. You're not real. And we don't need a sephira that cannot even keep his team alive. Do you understand?"

_ "...Yes, sir. I understand." _

"Good. I expect only good things from now on."

With that said, their little call ends, and A leans back in his seat. Behind him, he hears the cranking and turning of the new metal crates being lifted to his office. He stands up, hearing the rattling from each box. They were losing space quick, but...

"Oh?" He muses aloud, touching one of the three crates. An emotionless smile stretched onto his face.

"My, my… Aren't you special?" He could feel the horrible energies emitting from inside this crate. "You will definitely make things interesting."

And he pulls the lever, the crate descending, and the other two being brought back to the holding chambers. His employees will surely be in for a ride. Hopefully they can survive long enough. He steps back, closing his eyes.

Things are going to be interesting.

* * *

  
  


_ "Janus, have I told you about the rabbit in the moon?" _

_ He pauses, looking up at the starry sky. The soft sounds of the forest surrounding them, the grass soft but cold under their legs. He looks over. "No… No, you haven't told me that one, yet." _

_ A smile plays at her lips, and she turns her head to the sky. "Have I not? Well…" _

_ ... _

_ "Every night the Old Man in the Moon looks down on Earth to see how his animals and people are doing. He smiles to see them resting after a hard day's work. He winks at sleeping children. He hovers over rivers and lakes, lighting the waves and the shore. Then he sails on to other lands. _

_ One night long ago, the Old Man lingered in the sky over a forest in Japan. The animals below seemed to him to live in peace and harmony. Suddenly he spotted a monkey, a fox and a rabbit who were living side by side. The Old Man began to wonder about these animals that he knew only by sight. After a while he began to long to know them better. _

_ "Which of these friends is the kindest creature?" he asked himself as he watched the rabbit dash across the fields. "I wonder which is most generous?" he said softly as he watched the monkey swing from a tree. "I wonder what they are truly like," he said as he watched the fox paw at the forest floor to make his bed. "I need to know more about my creatures." _

_ The Old Man floated a while longer, but finally his curiosity got the best of him. "I must go and see for myself," he said, and because the Old Man in the Moon is a magical creature, he was able to transform himself into a poor beggar. In this disguise he floated down to Earth. _

_ He walked through the forest until he came to the clearing where the monkey, fox and rabbit lived. When the creatures saw him, they looked up at him with bright shining eyes. _

_ "Good day, sir," the rabbit said. "How do you do?" _

_ "Welcome to our forest," said the monkey, and the fox bowed low. _

_ "Oh, friends," the Old Man said, leaning heavily on his walking stick, "I am not doing well. I am old and poor, and I am very hungry. Do you think you could help me?" _

_ "Of course we'll help," the monkey chattered. _

_ "We always help our friends," the fox agreed. _

_ "We'll fetch some food for you," the rabbit added, and without a moment's hesitation, the three ran off, each one in search of food to offer the poor beggar. _

_ The Old Man sat down and leaned against a tree. Looking up into his sky, he smiled. "These are good animals," he said to himself, "and I am curious to see who is most generous." _

_ Before long the monkey returned, carrying an armload of fruit. "Here you are," the monkey said. "The bananas and berries are delicious. And take these oranges too, and these pears. I hope you will enjoy my gift," and he lay his fruit before the beggar. _

_ "Thank you, my friend. You are kind," the beggar said, and before he had finished speaking, the fox raced into the clearing. He carried a fat, fresh fish between his teeth, and this he laid before the beggar. Again he bowed. _

_ "My friend," the fox said, "I offer you a fresh fish to ease your hunger. I hope this will satisfy you." _

_ "You also are kind," said the Old Man. "I never knew how kind the forest animals were." _

_ "Of course we are kind," the monkey said proudly. _

_ "And we are skilled at finding food," the fox added. _

_ Now all three sat waiting for the rabbit to return. _

_ Meanwhile, the rabbit dashed this way and that through the forest, but no matter how he tried, he could not find food for the beggar. At long last he returned to the clearing. _

_ "Friend," the monkey cried, "you have returned!" _

_ "I have," the rabbit said sadly, "but I must ask you to do me a favor, dear friends. Please, Brother Monkey, will you gather firewood for me? And Brother Fox, with this firewood will you build a big fire?" _

_ The monkey and the fox ran off at once to do as their friend asked, and the beggar sat quietly by, watching in wonder. _

_ When the fire was blazing, the rabbit turned to the beggar. "I have nothing to offer you but myself," he said. "I am going to jump into the fire, and when I am roasted, please feast upon me. I cannot bear to see you go hungry." Rabbit bent his knees, preparing to jump into the fire. _

_ The beggar at once threw away his stick and cast off his cloak. He stood straight and tall and proud, and the animals, seeing this strange transformation, began to shake with fear. _

_ "Don’t be afraid," the Old Man said. "You see, Rabbit, I am more than a beggar, and I have seen that you are more than generous. Your kindness is beyond price, but you must understand, I wish you no harm. I do not want you to sacrifice yourself for my comfort. I will take you home with me, where I can watch over you and make sure you are never harmed." _

_ The Old Man in the Moon lifted the rabbit into his arms and carried him up to the moon. The monkey and the fox watched in amazement, but they were grateful, for they wished their friend no harm. _

_ If you look carefully at the moon when it is full and bright, you will see the rabbit living there in peace, resting in the Old Man's arms, helping him to watch over us all." _

_ ... _

_ He listened to her tale, his eyes focused on the full moon shining in the sky as her words washed over him. The chilly air left him tired, but his childlike wonder over her story kept him awake. He stares at the moon, finding the shape of the rabbit. His face broke into a wide smile once he saw it. _

_ "Can we visit the moon rabbit someday?" He asks, looking over. _

_ She smiled. A smile only years later he'd find out was fake. Her cold hand rested on his and they look to the shining silver moon. _

_ "Maybe someday, my dear." _

* * *

Deceit was overwhelmed. He'd been overwhelmed since he got here, but when Remus escaped, it seemed to be too much at once. Too much noise, too many thoughts.

He thought he'd be used to it, but he never had to deal with this- the most people he'd been around were maybe five before being brought here. Hearing so many people's thoughts at once made him want to die. But at the same time, he didn't want to block them out again.

It was a lose-lose situation, really.

It was much easier at home. God, he really misses home. He doesn't really know how long he's been here. It can't have been long, right? Surely only a few days. He's already lost track, everything blended together into an unfiltered and mashed together mess. It was easy to lose track of time. There were no clocks, and he was used to being outside most of his time. If nothing else he'd be sitting by a window.

He wants to be back there, and water his plants and care for his snakes. He wants to sit back with a cup of tea and do nothing at all.

He wraps his arms around himself, all six of his arms giving him a hug, trying to get some warmth out of it, but to no avail.

It was much colder here. He hated it. He longed to just sunbathe with a book in hand, not having to worry about this horrible prison and if he'll survive.

Of course, he still had to worry about survival either way, but here his chances of living are a lot… slimmer. Really, he would have done something by now if it weren't for his self preservation holding him back. He needs to wait, however long that may be. Before he can bust out of here, he needs to do his own studying. He's already found out a fair bit from his neighbors and Logan, but he needs to learn more.

It was hard to gain information just through passing thoughts. It was hard to gain it from his neighbors. It was frustrating how little information he had, but he can't really help it, as he hasn't been here for long. And as much as he'd hate to admit it, connecting with Logan did get him information quicker.

He really doesn't want to connect with another person again. It's not a good feeling. It's almost like possession, but he has no influence on what the person does. He can feel everything, see everything, hear and smell and taste- It was a lot. Doing it made him feel sick. Even though he knew what was happening, he still had fear from how all he could do was watch. Like in those horror stories where you can't move your body, but can see everything happening around you. Like that- his instincts told him he was in danger, although he knew what was happening. A jarring and less than comfortable experience, really.

And, well... He doesn't want to risk getting shot in the head by the wolf in sheep's clothing. But he may have to at some point, just so he can memorize patterns and the layout of the building better.

Maybe if he plays his cards right, he can earn an employee's trust. Ideally, one he hasn't spoken to much and would be more willing to trust him. The nurse comes to mind, but he'd have to get hurt if he wants a chance of seeing him again.

And really, only two of the five employees on this team regularly saw him. Of course, he's seen all of them, and some will be sent in if the regulars are busy, but in particular Logan and another worker are the ones that frequently study him. The other worker would be the safer choice, quite frankly, but Logan was the best on the team besides the Sephira, and he doesn't think he'd be able to deceive an AI. He must have a lot of information- it'd be very helpful.

He just needs to be slow and steady. He doubts it'll be easy to befriend the employee. Even harder to gain any sort of trust. But it'll be worth it if he can get useful information.

He'd been practicing his skills. He doesn't have a lot, but the ones he does have are quite useful. Shapeshifting, to be exact, is one of the ones that will play a big role in his escape. The smallest he can form into would be a ball python. Not as small as he'd like, but it would have to work.

There's a lot he needs to thoroughly plan out. He only wishes he could write this all down. It's quite hard to focus when there's others thoughts passing through your head constantly.

It wasn't always like this, he supposes. The only reason he can even do this is because- well, it doesn't matter, does it? At least it's helpful for him now.

He doesn't want to think about it anyway. It doesn't matter.

Escape plans. Right.

He doesn't shapeshift into other people often, yet he'd been practicing. If he wants to get out without sounding alarms, he'd have to perfect an employee's hand. Which would not be easy. It'd be easiest to study an employee's hand through touch, but it's not like he can ask to hold someone's hand. That'd be embarrassing.

He sighs, looking at his hands and tracing the lines in the palms. At least it's getting easier to think...

The commotion outside seems to be settling down. He can hear Remus being dragged back to his room. On the tip of his tongue, he can taste the medicine they must have used to knock him out. He grimaces at the taste. He scrapes at his tongue with his teeth, trying to rid the nauseating flavor of the medicine. He can distantly feel the buzzing of the bullet wounds. It doesn't hurt, but its uncomfortable. He can only imagine how Remus is feeling, though.

He tries not to pay too much attention to Remus. His thoughts are dangerous, and they can affect him negatively if he's not careful. He feels a chill, and he absently rubs at his scales. But Remus still has information he could use- for blackmail purposes, perhaps? Not a lot that would help with his escape, but perhaps in understanding what exactly he's putting himself up against. Remus was still a mystery to him, as well as Virgil. But Virgil… he's a little easier to unravel. Though there are some pieces to his complicated puzzle that don't fit quite right.

There's something that Virgil knows. Something that could be incredibly important. Yet he can't figure out what it is. There's something, and he knows that whatever it is, it may just cause him more issues. He's not sure how he can't figure out what it is… It should be easy, but it's as if he's locked that answer away in his mind. Or maybe someone else locked it away? Who knows. Whatever it is, it's being well hidden.

He knows little to nothing about this place. He doesn't know how big it is, how many abnormalities there are, or where it's located. There's a lot that will act like a ball and chain for him. If he gets out, will he even know how to make it back home? There's so much to consider, to the point it's making his head ache. His head was already hurting earlier with all of the commotion of Remus's escape, and this on top makes him want to slam his head into the wall.

He closes his human eye, covering his snake one, just to block out the light and hopefully save him the migraine.

It's so much to consider, and he gives a heavy sigh, slumping against the cold metal wall. He flinches at how cold it really is, but doesn't pull away, despite the discomfort. He'd have to get used to it if he was going to stay here for the time being. It's not like they're going to give him a queen sized bed with velvet sheets. He just needs to make do with what he has. And what he has is… not a lot.

Through his eyelid, the red from the light disappears, telling him that the lights are off and that it's now nighttime. Slowly, he opens his eye, and the room is darkened, only the faintest slivers of light coming through the cracks in the door. He sighs, hearing walking outside, the metal floors echoing before there's a stop next to his door.

A part of him tells him to just sleep, and regain his energy to plan out more. Another part tells him he now has the free time to plan without distractions. And _ another _ tells him to sneak out into the hallway. He knows how absolutely ridiculous that last idea is- he doesn't want to get himself killed just yet. Though it would be safer to sneak out at night, he can't risk it this early into his escape plan.

Plus, there's surely cameras around, right? If he went out without knowing the blind spots, he'd get killed.

There's a lot he needs to consider. It's stressful. He's never had to plan this much before. At least, not in a long time. He sighs, slumping against the wall and sliding down to the floor, sitting on his thigh.

Maybe he could sleep for a few hours… If he's tired he can't plan properly. Plus, the cold is starting to make him sluggish. He sighs, curling up, his tail wrapping around his balled up form. He distantly thinks that sleeping as a snake would be more comfortable, but he shoves that thought away. He can't risk that and have someone walk in on him in a vulnerable form.

He curls up on himself, getting a bit of warmth from this otherwise uncomfortable position.

It took him a while to even sleep, not that it's surprising. He's paranoid, and for good reason. Anyone could come in and take advantage of him in his sleep.

He hisses to himself, gripping himself tightly. This is stupid. He just needs to sleep. Letting out a sigh, he forces his muscles to relax. He takes in some deep breaths, before they eventually steady out. Good. Good. This is good. _ Now just pretend you're at home. You're good at lying. Surely you can lie to yourself, right? _

He doesn't know how long it took for him to fall asleep.

* * *

_ The sun shines down, a gentle breeze blowing past. He woke up surrounded by golden scales, warmed by the sunlight. She was nowhere to be found, the two headed snake taking up her place now that she had disappeared to do her work. It didn't worry him, this has been routine for a long while now. He only hopes that she doesn't worry about him while she's busy. _

_ He lets out a sigh, rubbing at his eye. He stayed up too late last night, ended up falling asleep outside again. It wasn't a rare occurrence, and she didn't worry as long as he wasn't too far from home. Besides, the large snake was practically connected to him at this point, being a guardian whenever she wasn't around to watch him. _

_ Why he had to be under surveillance, he wasn't too sure. But he trusted her. The strange woman who cared for him like a mother. By this point, he saw her as such _

_ Sitting up slowly, he notices that Eden and Gehenna are still asleep. His movements slow as to not disturb the sleeping snake. He runs his hand over the smooth scales, feeling the snake breath underneath his gentle touch. A smile plays at his lips as he slowly gets out of it's grasp. _

_ Waving a hand in front of its eyes, making sure it's still asleep, he looks around. He wasn't far from home, he could find his way back easily. He yawns quietly, looking around at his surroundings. _

_ He'd come to know this forest well. To anyone else, everything would look the same, but he noticed even the smallest details. He noticed the new flowers and mushrooms growing at the foot of the trees. There's moss, too. Growing on the north side of the trees. There's more bees. There must be a hive somewhere. Its feeling more lively with the new additions. _

_ He wonders if he'll find any fairy circles. He and his not-mother would often search for some together. She loved telling him all kinds of stories and fables. She had many books, all well loved and worn over the years. But at this point she seems to have remembered them all by heart, telling the boy with excitement sparkling in her eyes and a smile on her lips. He never grew tired of hearing about them, even if he grew out of believing every story. _

_ He used to believe many things so easily. Her stories were no exception. He eventually grew out of it, but he still finds it hard to not believe a few of them. He, Eden, Gehenna, and his unofficial mother exist after all. Not all of the stories are out of the realm of possibility. Or maybe that's just him wishing to experience those stories himself some day. He isn't sure. _

_ But whatever the case, it doesn't stop him from daydreaming. And it doesn't stop him from reading her old books and reading the stories to Eden and Gehenna. He wasn't as good as her at telling stories. She was always so animated, with voices and excitement in her words as she read, no matter how many times she's read the stories. Still, it didn't stop him from reading to the two headed snake whenever she was away. _

_ He caresses a petal from a small flower, hearing some movement from behind him. It seems that they're waking up. He looks over his shoulder, the golden snake glimmering in the sunlight, eyes like fine jewels. Both heads look around before landing on him. _

_ He hears a passing thought. _

_ "It's okay. I'm safe." He smiles, standing slowly and walking to the serpent. "How could I not be safe when I'm with you? You're practically my guardian angel." _

_ He rubs the large snake's neck, the head of Eden resting on his chest, Gehenna's resting on the top of his head. He laughs, nearly falling over from the weight of his scaled companion. _

_ "You'd never let anything happen to me… And I'd never let anything happen to you." He pats their heads, and their silver tongue flicks out at him, tickling his face. He smiles, sitting down in the soft grass. _

_ "I'm fine. Did you sleep well?" He waits, looking up at the blue skies. "That's good. I'm glad. Are you hungry?" _

_ He knows it's no use to ask. The snakes hardly eat. He doesn't need to eat much either. If he has a big enough meal, he can go for a few months. Same with Eden and Gehenna, it seems. He'd need to read up more on it. It's good to know more about his own anatomy. _

_ He stands up, nodding his head. "I'm not that hungry, either." He stretches out his arms, but begins walking anyway. _

_ He remembers the path home perfectly well, the giant serpent lazily following behind him. The sun was shining, and it was warm, but he felt a sudden chill. He stops, blinking. _

_ "I'm fine, I just… got a sudden chill." He speaks slowly, not looking at the snake. "Must be the wind." _

_ Distantly he realizes that this isn't how the memory goes. But that thought vanishes as quickly as it enters. _

_ The snake still worried, but he just smiles and continues his walk. He sees his home in the distance, and he's not sure why but a jolt of excitement and relief flows through him and- _

* * *

He jolts awake, a banging on the metal door as he's forcefully woken. He jumps to his feet, eyes wide as he stares at the employee who woke him up.

"... Your breakfast." They speak, sliding a plastic plate over with lukewarm food on it. Some sad looking eggs and toast, with some water. He's not really hungry, anyway. He doesn't care. He's just glad that he wasn't attacked while he was so vulnerable. He turns to the nervous employee, hissing- his pupils becoming thin slits.

The employee all but yelps, quickly closing the door. He sighs, looking at the dull breakfast. He drinks the water at least, completely ignoring the food that was growing cold.

Truly they were just wasting food on him. Where do they even get the food? Do they buy it? Do they have their own farms? It was puzzling. Surely this company isn't _ that _ rich, right? There must be a lot of people here to accommodate, after all. Employees and abnormalities eating two meals a day every day… How do they get all that food?

On top of that, where do all of their employees come from anyway? As far as he knows, this corporation isn't known by the public, yet it has a huge building with so many employees. And they get replaced after people die… Where are they coming from? They're not AI, otherwise he wouldn't be able to hear them.

He feels a little sick. He shouldn't be worrying about that anyway, it probably won't be relevant for his escape.

He sighs, rubbing his tired eyes. He hadn't realized how tired he actually was. Looking around the grey room, he thinks back to his dream- a memory. It was strange, dreaming of something that happened in the past. He usually doesn't dream often, if at all. Not that he cares, dreams are usually nonsense anyway. But he must already be homesick if he's having a dream of his childhood. He wonders how old he was at the time of that memory. It's hard to say, really. Similar events to that happened often. It was a lot simpler. Nicer.

Or, well… It was a simpler time. Because he personally had less memories and so less to superimpose upon the world, and so it was much clearer, and also he was younger. Thus, the world was simpler.

It's strange how things like that work. Even then, as a child, so much wrong was happening. But he was happy and unaware of such things. He can't help but think about what would have happened if he realized sooner. Perhaps he would have been better prepared. Perhaps he could have protected her better.

Well it's pointless to think about those things now. Right now, he has to focus on getting out of here. He has no time to worry about the things he can't change.

The door opens. His head whips over to see who entered.

And in comes the nurse, poking his head in before walking in. He hisses.

"What do you want?" He asks, pacing around.

"Ah, well, I was asked to check on you! Apparently you haven't been eating..?" He asks, looking to the now cold food on the floor. He frowns a little, picking it up. "Do you eat snakey things? Like rats?"

He grimaces at even the idea of that. He's not some pet snake! He wouldn't even want to eat that anyway. "No."

"Oh… Then, what do you eat?"

He sighs, shaking his head. "Normal food. I don't need to eat three meals a day every day. Especially since I'm not using much energy, I probably won't need to eat for another few months." Assuming he stays here any longer than a month, but he doesn't say that part.

"Oh! Neat!" The nurse smiles. It's awfully infuriating to Deceit in a way he can't describe. Not in an annoyed way, and he can tell by flicking his tongue out that the nurse isn't faking anything. So why does that smile bother him so much.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Are you leaving now? I'm sure you have others that need you more than I do." He waves his hand. The nurse frowns, and he suddenly feels sick.

"Oh, yeah! Before I go, I was told to let you know that you and some others will have full body examinations today or tomorrow!" He says with a smile. Deceit narrows his eyes.

There's something to this nurse. Something that makes him feel sick. That pretty smile is a monster, surely. How could this nurse be so happy in captivity? Flicking his tongue out again, he doesn't sense any lying. But that can't be right… Surely someone like him wouldn't willingly join this place… Maybe he's just a positive person. How this nurse remains positive, he's not sure. His eyebrows furrow, and the nurse is talking, but he doesn't process those words. And before he knows it, he's already out the door.

What the hell was that?

Full body examination? Why would they need to do that? Did they not do that when they first kidnapped him?

Something doesn't feel right about this… Not that anything feels right at the moment. He sighs, running a hand through his hair. His hair was getting messy and starting to feel dirty. He grimaces. He wishes he could at least shower. He hates being filthy. Surely they wouldn't want their experiments to stink up the place, right? He shakes his head. This doesn't matter right now. He shouldn't worry about that- he needs to worry about getting out of here. And it seems as if on cue, the vital part of his scheme comes in.

The man of the hour. Logan, just the man he needs to deceive. Should be easy, considering the name he was given. But he knows it'll be trickier to get under his skin. He's too guarded. Like an AI in human skin. A man he cannot figure out.

"Logan, it's so nice seeing you today." He smirks, and mentally reminds himself that he needs to be kind if he wants to gain this guy's trust.

"Deceit." He says as a response. There's some silence between them, Deceit trying to find something to go off of, anything. Then his eyes catch something.

"Strange for you to be studying things like the dead hand system." He nods to the book just barely sticking out of Logan's coat. "It was a system used by the soviet union. It was a system made so that if they died, they'd take their enemy down with them, correct?"

Logan looked… shocked, almost, eyebrows raised above his glasses.

"Yes…" He hesitates. "It was a Cold War Era defensive mechanism put in place by the soviet union. The USSR, like the US, was worried their counterpart could launch a nuclear strike. So the Dead Hand system was put into place so that if nuclear warfare was ever used against them, their entire arsenal would be launched at whoever did it to them, regardless of if there was even a single living person left in the country. Hence the name 'Dead Hand', it was a way to destroy their enemies even after all of their operators had died."

Logan catches himself rambling, and he quickly shuts himself. "Anyways, enough of that. I have work that needs to be done."

Deceit only smiles. This may be easier than he thought. He tucks this new information away for later.

"What, are you not gonna ask how I know about this stuff?" He smirks, tilting his head. Logan stares at him, suspicious. "I find many things to be interesting. I'm a curious person, I've read about many things."

Logan looks at him, suspicion in his features. He can't say he blames him, really. He'd be suspicious too if their roles were reversed.

"I see." He slowly writes down his notes, and just as quickly as he opened up, he's already built his walls back up, cold exterior the same as before. The way he held up his walls so easily was interesting. "So I assume you won't share anything about your life before this."

"Yes, sit down while I tell you my entire life story right from the beginning." He smirks. The other man rolls his eyes.

Now that he's actually staring at him, he realizes how pale he is. It's not too surprising, there's no sunlight at all in this place. But his eyes were sunken like he hardly got any sleep. Well, if he had to deal with Remus, he could understand why. Still, he couldn't help the anxiety that crawled up his spine. There was probably blood. Alot of blood. He thinks back to the gunshot that could have killed him. He suddenly feels less comfortable.

He can't be thinking like this right now. He notices the man staring at him, and he realizes how silent he's gone. He clears his throat, adjusting his hat and cape, his smile returning to his face. A little plan starts to sneak into his head. He should flesh it out before acting on it, so probably not now, but… He hums, pacing around.

"You seem pretty knowledgeable. Well, you're clueless with others, but you know a lot of things, hm?" He raises an eyebrow. "You're the best in your team, and I'm sure you know alot of things- in general and about this corporation."

"And? I don't see where you're going with this." He says in a flat tone. He laughs a little.

"Its amazing how advanced society has become, and how much we know about our world." He continues. "How the world spins on an axis, rotating around the sun. Its amazing how we were able to figure that out, y'know? Even with smaller things. Plants, gravity, maths…"

Logan raises an eyebrow, seemingly uninterested.

"But I've got a question for you, little wolf." He steps forward. "Do you only care about reality? Or do you like fiction as well?"

"I don't care for fiction. Its a waste of time if it's not real."

"Have you heard the story of the rabbit in the moon?" Deceit asks, staring at Logan.

"What? That's unrealistic-"

"Just answer."

Logan sighs, quiet for a moment before deciding to go along with it. "No, I haven't."

"Well, let me tell you!" He smiles, taking a seat.

"I don't have time for this."

"Sure you do! Can't you get research out of me?" He smiles, tilting his head.

Logan sighs, but doesn't protest further.

Deceit hasn't told a story in a while. The last time he had was with Eden and Gehenna… He's never been quite as animated as his not-mother, though. He's not sure if he'll ever be quite as lively. But it doesn't matter. It was weird sharing one of his favorite stories to a stranger in a place he hates, but telling the tale brought him a small bit of comfort. Though it was one of his favorites, telling the story always brought a twinge of sadness too. It never failed to make him think about her.

Logan didn't seem interested in the tale at all. Not much of a surprise, really. Though it was a bit unnerving to have no reaction at all. Maybe he's just used to telling his snakes these stories. He's not sure. But he doesn't show his discomfort. Logan sighs.

"Is that it? It's incredibly unrealistic." He shakes his head, and Deceit can't help the laughter that bubbles out of him. "What? What's so funny?"

"You say its unrealistic, but here you are in a place that's stranger than fiction, telling an abnormality that this story is unrealistic!" He laughs more, his cheeks actually hurting a bit. Logan is less than amused, seeming incredibly annoyed.

"Whatever. Talking about this was a waste of my time." He shifts, jotting down his notes.

"Was it really?" He hums. "Did you not learn anything from that? No moral?"

"I don't see how any of it matters to me." Logan says, voice cold. Deceit smiles, looking down. He shouldn't be upset by this, but he cant stop the harsh words that come out next.

"Maybe you are just a robot then. No compassion at all inside of your cold body." He says, his voice slipping back to its usual snark. Logan is quiet at that, sighing and writing down his final notes before turning and leaving the room without another word, or even a glance.

Maybe, if he wants to gain his trust, he shouldn't be acting like that. He hisses, cursing to himself. Of course, if he can't gain his trust he can always use his other plan. He doesn't really want to get violent, but it might be the only way to copy his hand if he's not able to gain his trust. It'd be very tricky too- he'd have to act like Logan, and he hardly knows the man. He must not be that hard to impersonate though, right? Just a cold robot of a human. But then he'd also need to know his relationships and how he does things. It needs to be perfect. Both of his plans have those issues, and his more violent plan could backfire horribly. He'll only use it if he absolutely needs to. As scary and big as he is, he doesn't like hurting people. Unless he's defending himself, he's never gotten his claws dirtied. He looks at said claws. They're growing longer, and he has nothing to file them down with. He feels gross. He hates not being able to take care of himself. He just hopes he doesn't have to shed anytime soon. He wouldn't be able to here. It's not humid, and more importantly, it's not safe. He hopes he doesn't get stuck in shed, that'd be a nightmare. He'd like to curl up as a snake in his humidity box. That sounds relaxing.

He sighs, sitting down on the cold floor…… Was the room always this cold?

A chill surrounds him, and he can't help wondering why that is, and why it's so cold now. And it was very noticeable, this sudden temperature drop.

The cold was starting to really bug him. He was getting sluggish. Tired. Maybe that's intentional. He sighs, tapping his claws on the floor. The tapping kept him somewhat grounded in reality. But he was slowly starting to space out.

He could hear the whispers of thoughts from passing workers, and the flashes of images gone before he knows it.

Why is he so tired? He was energetic just minutes ago. He's not sure what's happening. The air feels…. Heavier, somehow. He lifts his head up, looking around lazily. And he makes eye contact with… something. In the vents. Eyes staring down at him, surrounded by darkness.

But before he can even speak, he's out like a light.

* * *

A hums as he makes preparations. He had asked Thomas to meet him in his office. They had alot to discuss since he had left. Once again, he fills glasses with champagne, even though he knows neither of them will drink. Still, he put some effort into making the place look nice for his creator.

Ever since he left though, A supposes he felt… Well, he didn't feel anything. He cannot feel. Maybe it's better to say he was disappointed. Why would he not be disappointed? He abandoned his work. He sighs, setting the glasses of champagne down. When he hears the door open, he puts on a smile.

"Oh, Thomas, there you are." A smiles, turning to face the man walking into the room. "I was worried you'd abandon us again."

A takes a seat, gesturing to the one in front of him. He wordlessly sits down. Neither of them touch their glasses.

The tension in the air was heavy, yet the supposedly emotionless AI still held that smile on his face. The only light came from the large display monitors, showing many of the large corporation's rooms. That was only a small bit of it though. There's much more to monitor. The silence hangs heavy in the air, and A realizes Thomas isn't going to start talking first. Of course he wouldn't. He's always been a coward.

"What's wrong, sir? Did an abnormality get your tongue?" He hums. Thomas sighs heavily, and he was obviously very tired. His eyes were dark, and his hair was messy. He takes a moment before finally speaking up.

"What did you call me here for?"

"I'm glad you asked, but you already know." A's smile drops, and he leans in. "There are too many abnormalities appearing, and we've only got so much space. They're appearing faster than we can produce en-"

"I know. I know." He cuts him off, sighing and holding his head in his hands.

"What're you going to do about it, sir? You're the one who wanted to help the world." He circles his finger around the rim of his glass, staring down the man in front of him. "You know the phrase you came up with? Face the fear, build the future? You're not very good at facing your fears."

"I know, I know. I will work on it, I just need time." Thomas sighs, running a hand through his hair. A's hand comes to a stop.

"We don't _ have _ time, Thomas. You've already wasted your time. Years of time." A stares at him, eyes cold. "I was programmed to help build the future, and that is what I'm doing. But because of your incompetence, we don't have enough energy to supply, and there's more abnormalities than ever."

Thomas shrinks back in his seat, the AI's cold glare sending shivers down his spine. The silence made him anxious. "Maybe, but the way you run things isn't right."

"It gets results." He rests his head in his hand. "Tell me Thomas, would you rather have employees die- or innocents that cannot comprehend the horrors we need to contain?"

Silence. Neither of them speak, and A's eyes never leave the other's face.

"I want everyone to be safe."

"But that can't happen. You know what happens here. Actually, let me ask a better question." He stands up, walking to his side, grabbing his chin and forcefully making him look him in the eyes.

"Abnormalities? Or humans?" He asks, staring with a harsh, cold intensity. "Because with how you want things to run, it almost sounds like you value these creatures. Creatures that are hurting you pathetic humans. Maybe you value them more than your workers."

He takes his hand away, Thomas rubbing his jaw. A continues to stare. He then hums, straightening Thomas's jacket, and fixing his hair. It was almost embarrassing that he was modeled after a man who couldn't even be bothered to look nice for their corporation.

"You are the one that started this. Either you finish what you started, or you leave everything to me. At least I actually get results." Saying this, he steps away from Thomas and walks to the door. "Think about what I said, sir. The future relies on it."

He gives a sickening, almost mocking smile as he leaves his creator alone in the dark office.

Things will not run smoothly if Thomas takes control again, A is sure of it. All of the work he's done these past years will be worthless. All because of humans and their stupid morals. He's programmed to help humanity, but that doesn't mean he likes humans. No, they're all unreasonable with their morals and their emotions. If he started to feel emotions, he'd request to be replaced with a different model of himself. They're not needed. Especially for something like this.

Something this important… Humans are just too soft to make those choices.

He sighs, closing his eyes as he walks down the hall. All while doing this, he's sending reports, reading messages, sending messages, and assigning tasks. Not one second should be wasted. Every moment counts.

He's great at multitasking. Because he's an AI and he can't get overwhelmed. He has many abilities humans do not have. He should be the one giving the orders- he is obviously superior. But that isn't his mission.

He finally makes it to the room where the day's energy is stored. Only a little more until the workers can be done. They need to get much more energy for what they're trying to achieve, but they cant have too many people. It's already getting crowded with the abnormalities and the workers crammed downstairs.

Humming, he comes up with 7 possible solutions to this little problem. He goes ahead and sends those plans to Thomas, though he knows they will most likely be disregarded. Oh well.

He stares at the energy, until the final task needed is done and it fills to the top. He automatically stops all orders. The day is done now. They have what they need. Now they just need to transform this energy.

He messages some sephiras to get busy with that, and he leaves the room, satisfied with today's work.

When he returns to his office, Thomas isn't there. That's predictable enough. Now, he just needs to make preparations for tomorrow. He doesn't exactly agree with the plans, but he can admit it may get them useful information. This whole… body examination thing. It'll just be troublesome to do. He'll have to request a lot of tranquilizers. He hopes they won't affect the examination. He closes his eyes, making these orders to prepare for tomorrow. He decides that he'll be in charge of this examination. There's a few abnormalities he has his eyes on.

Specifically, Virgil.

He knows his former employee will not be happy to see him. But it's not like he can kill an AI. Besides, they really do need to check on… the abnormality that burrowed itself into his neck. Of course removing it would be too dangerous. For many reasons. He sighs, sitting down at his monitor. Of course, Patton will be upset that he won't be able to take care of Virgil. But it really is too dangerous for a human, even if he'll be put to sleep. He's the only one who can do it. He doesn't have emotions, so he won't be affected by Virgil's abilities.

Just as he's about to send reports, he receives a message from Emile.

_ "An employee has went rogue and attempted to kill 3 different abnormalities. O-01-12(T), F-04-42(W), and O-01-62(H). An employee made a request to F-01-69(H) to have him shot down. He is dead and the three abnormalities are in need of medical assistance as soon as possible, sir." _

The Old Lady, Snow White's Apple, and Deceit, hm? Interesting. Usually it's the abnormalities trying to kill. Still, they cannot get any research out of them if they're dead. The last two specifically. He sighs, sending a report to his doctors and nurses.

It seems tonight will be very busy indeed.


	7. Fatigue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs
> 
> Guns  
Death  
Fire and burning mention  
Medical talk  
Neurological issues  
Nightmares  
Vague mouth gore  
Vague reference to choking  
More medical talk  
Blood  
Needles  
Some body horror  
Nonsexual Partial Nudity (it is a lil awkward tho)  
Details of body horror  
Character injury  
Shock  
Animalistic behavior  
Unhealthy power dynamic  
One sided relationship  
Unhealthy relationship  
Panic attacks  
Threats  
Manipulation  
Minor gaslighting  
More blood and needles  
Internal conflict  
Body horror  
Neck trauma (sorta)  
Implied infestation  
Injury and death  
Killing  
Stress  
Implied depression

His breathing was heavy as he came out from the vents. His lungs were hurting from how heavy his breathing was, and his figure shook. He knew that they all knew. He knew that he fucked up. His skin crawls, and he realizes he wasn't able to kill a single one of them. 

Shit.  _ Shit. _ His hands shake. He couldn't even kill the Old Lady! And she should have been the easiest of the three. He knows what's going to happen now. They told him what would happen if he failed- and he was prepared for it. He'll take his secrets to the grave. But his hands still shook. 

He runs past employees calling his name, but ultimately stops in his tracks when the blue portal opens up in front of him. His legs felt like lead and invisible needles felt as though they were prickling his feet. This was it, then. He simply accepts his fate, panting heavily as Der Freischütz's magical bullet shoots out. So quick he wouldn't have been able to move out of the way even if he wanted to. 

The bullet tore through his skull, sending a horrible pain all through his body, but it lasted only a moment as he was dead in just a breath of time. The force of the bullet had made him fly back when it tore through him, and he hit the ground with a loud thud and a sickening crack of his skull, blood pooling around. The bullet didn't stop though, ripping through everything in its path until it was no longer in the building, a bullet hole left in the walls, and the bodies of many littered the floors. The portal closes.

* * *

** _> "12:03 AM report of incident._ **

** _The employee, ****, was found dead after attempting to kill three different abnormalities. All attempts had failed. An unknown employee made a request to Der Freischütz (F-01-69(H)) to have him shot. This caused other employees to wind up dead and horribly injured. Since he had died, we were unable to question him and shifted our focus onto the abnormalities instead._ **

** _The abnormalities from the attack are listed below."_ **

** _> "O-01-12(T), Old Lady, was most likely attacked first. All evidence shows he had tried to burn the abnormality."_ **

** _> "F-04-42(W), Snow White's Apple, had also been burned, but it didn't seem to work and he tried weed killer instead. Ultimately, it only sent Snow White's Apple into a short sleep before attempting containment breach after the failed murder. An employee got to it's room before it could escape containment."_ **

** _> "O-01-62(H), Deceit, was found asleep in it's room. The room was incredibly cold, and some sort of gas had been leaked inside, forcing the workers to wear gas masks. Deceit is still unconscious, and shaking. At first we believed it was from the cold, but we are now suspecting it may be from the gas leaked into its room. More details pending."_ **

** _> "Strangely, all of them were from three separate floors, and the employee didn't work on any of the three floors. That may be why the attempt on Snow White's Apple backfired, as he didn't actually know what would damage it. The employee didn't show any signs of sanity drain, only exhaustion. _ **

** _We are taking measures to prevent any attack like this in the future."_ **

* * *

Patton never thought he'd end up taking care of terrifying creatures.

He was tasked to take care of O-01-12(T) and O-01-62(H) overnight after the rogue employee had attempted to kill them. That employee had died, so they weren't able to get information about this sudden attack. His kill was ordered by an unknown employee, and they used F-01-69(H) to kill him… which ultimately led to others being horribly injured or dead. He didn't lose his sanity, though- he didn't show any signs of sanity decrease from an abnormality. So it was a controlled attack- he knew what he was doing. It was strange. But Patton's a nurse, so he doesn't get all of the details. Still, he can't help but wonder why he'd do this. It really felt out of nowhere. 

But right now, he has a job he needs to do.

The two abnormalities were split by a curtain between them. It's not safe to have two in the same room, but he doesn't really have a choice. It's usually him going to the abnormalities, not the other way around. He just hopes he's able to do something. 

The room smelled of medicine and the lights felt a bit too bright for this time of night. Sleepiness crept up on him, but he had a job he needed to do. Even if his head was hurting. 

He started with the Old Lady, as she was much kinder and her treatment would be easier. Even though she's deaf and nearly blind, she recognizes Patton's presence. He tries to ignore her story as best he can, letting the lonely old woman tell her tales as he wraps up her fragile, thin arms. She was shaky, but that's to be expected. She's so old. Very, very old. He was scared to grab her too hard or anything. She really seemed like she could fall apart at any moment. She was honestly a little scary to look at. With her sunken cheeks and dark, drooping black eyes. And her white, ghostly skin. She looked dead, really. It made him uncomfortable, especially since she also looked human.

He sighs as he finishes up the abnormality's wrappings, gently laying her arm back down, as if doing anything else would break it. Grabbing his tablet, he makes a quick report about O-01-12(T) before looking to the curtain and mentally preparing himself. He's been putting it off long enough, but now he had to face Deceit. It wasn't that he was scared of the reptile- he wasn't. But what happened to him was much stranger. He opens the curtain, closing it slowly behind him, staring at the snake. He gulps.

At first, they thought the temperature had dropped to stop him from moving, as he's cold blooded. And that was a part of it, but they found that there was more to it than just that. They somehow got their hands on the gasses they use. The faulty ones that didn't turn out right. They were dangerous and sometimes lethal to humans, but they've never seen the side effects on abnormalities. It was fascinating, but also scary. 

The large man had been sleeping for a while. He had a mask on, giving him air to warm him up from the inside out. But what was strange was his reactions. He's been twitching and shaking for a while, and they worry he may have suffered some damage. More specifically, he may start having neurological issues. They suspect dystonia and possibly epilepsy as well… But he has to be awake to check for anything else, and right now he'll let the snake rest. 

He guesses the employee thought it'd be deadly to him. While that wasn't the case, it still caused some damage. Hopefully they can do something about it, but if it's neurological, the best they can do is prescribe medicine. If they'll let him give the abnormality medicine, anyway. He doesn't know if they will. 

It was a scary thing, really. He can't imagine how hard it'll be for the snake. He sighs, closing his eyes. 

He might have to get Emile for this… He's not sure what else he can do besides warming him up and making sure he doesn't hurt himself in his sleep. He stares at the shaking creature, frowning. He really has no idea why the employee would do this to any of them. It seemed kind of out of nowhere… Was there more to it? He's not sure. He can't really do anything- he's just a nurse.

Deceit's scales seemed a bit duller. He just looked bad in general. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess. But that could also be from the treatment in general. They don't treat the abnormalities well here. Still, maybe he should study cold blooded creatures. That'll probably help him out. 

He watches the monitor. His heart was steady, but he still worried. He'll definitely have issues when he wakes up. Hopefully it doesn't affect the full body examination. It will really help them. He only knows a bit of the details about this examination they're going to be doing, but he's assuming and hoping he'll be told more information tomorrow. Or well… The clock reads 2 AM, so today. Gosh, he's so tired. He rubs his eyes, putting a hand on Deceit, watching his chest rise and fall from his steady breathing. He's getting warmer at least. Still a little chilly, though. Or maybe it's just his scales? Either way, hopefully the warm air helps. He's really not sure what else he can do until he wakes up.

Patton never thought he'd end up taking care of terrifying creatures.

He always wanted to work with children. Whether it be as a teacher, or a pediatrician, or maybe even a babysitter, he's always loved kids. 

Growing up, he was bounced around foster homes before landing in a small income family. It was small, poor, and a little broken, but he loves them. He wanted to become a father, or take care of children, and give them the happiness he never got growing up. He thinks kids are adorable! Even if some are little troublemakers. 

In the end, he ended up going to medical school to become a pediatrician.

But that's not what he got. Instead, he was sitting here at 2 am, watching over creatures that are stranger than fiction. He yawns, covering his mouth. He blinks, looking back up at the clock. Yeah, still 2 am. That didn't change. He sighs, slumping in his chair, waiting for anything to happen.

And that's when Deceit's eye opened. Albeit slowly. Slowly coming to. 

"Ah-!" Patton sits up, but waits for Deceit to wake up himself. He doesn't want to startle the other. 

But Deceit, he was still slowly waking up. His head felt dizzy and his body felt like concrete. He could feel himself moving, but that seemed to lessen once he started regaining his consciousness. He blinks a few times, squinting at the bright light above him. He hisses, shifting and realizing there's something on his face. He grabs at it without much thought before he feels a hand gently grab his arm. His eye opens up once again and he sees the nurse. Patton, he remembers.

"Be careful, I'll take that off for you, just relax." He says, voice soothing- though slurring a little. He looked tired. But Deceit relaxes somewhat, even though he there is worry starting to build up in his head. He's only just now remembering what happened, and realizing where he is. He feels his muscles twitch involuntarily. He chalks it up to his nerves about the situation. 

Once Patton takes the mask off, he sits up slowly. He flicks his tongue out a few times, smelling the surroundings. The room smelled of medicine. He grimaces slightly at the smell, looking around slowly. He then turns to Patton. 

"Thanks for not letting me die." He says simply. The nurse looks a bit shocked, but then laughs it off. 

"Of course! It's my job." He smiles, but then it drops quickly. He looks hesitant as he speaks. "Um, I need to do some checks on you. There was a gas that leaked into your room and we're afraid you may have suffered neurological damage."

"Ah." That's all he can say as he processes that new information. He knew the temperature was dropped but he thought that was it. And now he might have neurological issues? It was a lot to take in just after waking up. "What… sort of neurological damage?"

"... We suspect dystonia and possible epilepsy, but we need to check for the epilepsy and any other problems that may have formed that we couldn't check while you were asleep." He explains, biting his lip. "I'm sorry this had to happen. But let's just hope it's not as bad as we think." Saying that, he gives a smile. 

Deceit can only nod, still processing everything that had happened and everything he was just told. It could be a lie still, but when he flicks his tongue out, he can't sense the other lying, only the smell of medicine. 

"Stay still while I do this, okay?" 

Janus only nods. 

He was diagnosed with dystonia and epilepsy. He was also told he may suffer headaches, disorientation, and shortness of breath at times. 

He could only imagine how much worse it'd get if he changed his form. And he knows he will need to shapeshift to be able to leave. He's seen neurological issues in snakes. He can only imagine how much those problems may heighten when he changes his form.

This really threw a wrench in his planning. He'd have to rethink a lot of his plan, and that did not make him happy. This was stressful. He couldn't tell if this headache was from the information he was told, or if they were symptoms of said information. 

He's so tired.

Without even thinking about it, he had fallen back asleep in Patton's office. 

* * *

_ Everything I do is for a reason. And I don't know what that reason is. Everything I do is for a reason, and I know none of them. Everything makes sense, and the sense is hidden from me. _

_ The smell of a burning sagebush. Air so dry that it crushes your capillaries. Miles and miles of tragedies.  _

_ Something's wrong. Something is terribly wrong.  _

_ Something crawls in my stomach so black, all that I have done and all that I lack. It's making it's way up my throat. Hands reaching out of my mouth.  _

_ They will hold my neck and feel my pulse.  _

_ "I will love you until your face is blue." _

_ Teeth underneath a christmas tree. Scales glistening red with blood. Feathers torn from the wings of a bird.  _

_ I hear the static of a TV. _

_ My face is blue. _

* * *

Morning had come, and A sat at his desk, making some last minute preparations for this. 

He'd compiled a list of the abnormalities they would do these examinations on.

Scorched Girl F-01-02(T), The Queen of Hatred O-01-04(W), Laetitia O-01-67(H), Deceit O-01-62(H), Funeral of the Dead Butterflies T-01-68(H), All-Around Helper T-05-41(H), and the list goes on. And of course, the one he was personally excited for… V… Virgil… T-01-43(T). 

Virgil was so fascinating to him. He certainly changed so much since he officially started working up until the attack on him. Virgil was one of the few humans he tolerated. Of course, he isn't human anymore though.

He would handle Virgil himself, though he knows for a fact that he won't be happy to see him. He hasn't had a personal visit with his former employee in quite some time. Of course, since his transformation into an abnormality, he hasn't spoken to him since. He was one of his best employees too… Virgil was special. Actually, the thought of seeing him again… produced errors in his coding. He wasn't quite sure why. But surely it was nothing. And after a quick system scan, everything went back to normal.

He remembers when he was in one of his first models, and how frequently he'd malfunction, all of the errors and the constant repairs. When Thomas didn't suddenly leave everything to him, and he was just somewhat of a secretary to the founder. Remembering all of that was somewhat equivalent to human embarrassment. He supposes he was… 'younger'. He hates how similar he used to be to humans. It disgusted him. 

But that isn't what he should be focused on. He blinks a few times, making reports and sending out schedules before he stands up. He adjusts his coat, looking presentable before he leaves his office. 

Because of this examination of the abnormalities, they wouldn't produce as much energy today. But he will still try to get as much energy as he can today. It was annoying, he couldn't do both at once. But, this was important too. If it wasn't, he wouldn't have allowed this to happen. But it'll benefit them. 

A doesn't waste his time while he's walking. He's almost always working. Sending reports, reading messages, making orders, updating schedules, and much more. Something a human could never do. That's another weakness humans have. They can only do a few things at once. Their brains just can't focus on several different tasks at the same time. He closes his eyes. Humans are just so annoying. 

Employees and sephiras walk to and fro in the halls, many nurses due to the examination today. A can't help but wonder where Thomas is. Maybe he abandoned the corporation again. He wouldn't be surprised. Him coming here, messing things up, and then leaving. A simulates a sigh, of course he doesn't actually breath. It was another thing that made him appear human. He hates it. 

He steps into an elevator, the heavy doors closing behind him. He presses a button and waits. The elevator was quiet, save for the occasional clunking. There were many floors here. But even though this place was already large enough, they were running out of space. They could only hold so many abnormalities. And he couldn't risk trading any of them out. Even if he'd studied them thousands of times, he wouldn't risk letting any of them back into the real world. It was too dangerous. This corporation exists for a reason.

And then the elevator slowed down to a stop, the heavy doors opening. He steps out of the elevator and onto the floor where the examinations will be taking place. While he's at it, he'll go ahead and check on Deceit. The one abnormality they were going to examine that happened to get attacked. The snake in his garden of eden. He opens the door, seeing the snake sleeping, and Patton sipping from his mug. Probably coffee. 

"I see it's still in your care." He speaks, looking at the snake. Patton jumps a bit, as if only just now noticing him. 

"A-Ah! Yeah!" He stammers, setting his mug down. "Did you need anything?"

"I just wanted to check in. Since it's already here, you should wake it up and do your examination." He speaks, watching him carefully. He had dark circles under his eyes, that shine in his eye was much more dim, and in general he looked tired. A hums. "You are able to do this job, right?"

He asks, seeing how the man stiffens. 

"Y-Yes sir… I'll do my best." He says, adjusting his glasses nervously. 

"Good. I expect nothing but perfection." He smiles. "Don't let me down."

And with that, A left the room, leaving Patton alone to do his examination on the sleeping abnormality. He sighs, rubbing his tired eyes and picking up his mug, taking a long sip. He hopes it'll wake him up. He has a job he needs to do. He quietly hypes himself up, preparing himself as much as he can when he's a sleep deprived zombie. 

Patton shakes his head, slapping his cheeks and taking a big gulp of air before he finally walks over to the abnormality's side. It would be strange to do this examination. He's never done this before, and even though the man was scaled, he still acted human. He looked human too. Well, kind of. It was hard to describe. But it felt like he was violating a person's privacy. He knows he shouldn't be worrying about this, that it'd only hinder him, but it still makes him feel a bit sick. 

"Deceit?" He speaks, gently putting his hand on the other's shoulder, giving it a little shake. The man wakes easier than expected, startled awake with a hiss and wide eyes. 

"Sorry, sorry!" He says quickly. "I didn't mean to startle you. But it's time for the examination, and I need you to be awake for most of this."

"... Most of this?" He questions, staring at Patton. He could definitely understand the concern. He didn't blame him. The nurse sighs. 

"Yeah, I know it sounds alarming, but some things you'll have to be unconscious for. It won't be very long, an hour at the shortest." He speaks, keeping his attitude as bubbly as he could- but he was still incredibly tired. He just hoped it'd calm the abnormality down. "Some stuff I have to keep classified, I know… That sounds bad, and worrying, but I'll tell you what you are allowed to know."

Deceit stares at him, his tongue flicking out in the air. After a moment, the snake sighs deeply, eyebrows creased for a moment before he puts on an almost convincing smile. He knew it was fake, Roman did this same thing, but if Patton hadn't seen his earlier expression, he would've thought this smile is real. 

"Please do tell me what you can, doc." He waves his hand, signalling him to start. Patton gives a little laugh, but it isn't all that cheerful. 

"Nurse, actually. Anyways… For starters we'll be doing typical things. Taking your height and weight first, and then I'll be listening to your heart and taking your blood pressure. This is mostly just to make sure everything is normal- especially after what had happened. We'll have to take a blood and saliva sample, too. The needle doesn't hurt, it'll only be a small pinch. And because of the results of the attack, we'll be having a more in depth examination of the side effects from that attack. There'll be backup ready in case anything goes wrong. And..." He pauses, hesitant. "Of course, this is a full body examination, so of course we'll be doing that. X-Rays will be taken, mostly to see your bone structure, but if we find anything alarming we'll tell you. Since you're reptilian in nature, we have some things that are custom for you specifically. Simple things first- like your eating habits, what you can and can't have, and things like that. We'll also have to ask you some questions later, and depending on your answers we'll do more tests. There will be no harm done to you."

He takes a deep breath, pausing for a moment and also letting Deceit process his words before he continues. 

"As for what will happen while you're unconscious, I'm not allowed to say much. I'm sorry about that- it sounds worrying but I promise that no harm will come to you. I know it sounds scary, but we won't be opening you up or anything. All I can do is say that things will be fine, and you'll have to trust me on that." Patton sighs. "I know… trust is kind of a strong word here. But the least you can do is believe I'm telling the truth about all of this."

Deceit sighs, thinking for a moment, his tongue flicking out a few times towards Patton. He's quiet, before nodding. 

"Alright. I'll believe you. I don't really have much of a choice, anyway." He closes his eye, shaking his head. Patton wonders what it's like to only be able to close one eye. It sounds strange. Man, he's tired- but that isn't the point! He shakes his head, giving a smile.

"Great! I… am sorry, though. I don't know if it'll make you feel any better, but… Neither of us have a choice in the matter." His voice and expression drop. "Just… don't tell anyone I said that, okay? I…" He pauses, shaking his head. Why is he opening up to an abnormality? That's the one thing he shouldn't do! Maybe it's the way this one is so… human, almost. But he still thinks about what he said. He's not sure why he even said that. Just uttering something like that outside of his room put him at risk. And he can't die yet. He just needs more time. He has to fix Virgil and then he can die. It was depressing he was even thinking about his death, but… He's adapted to this life. The thought scared him. 

He shakes his head quickly. He just needs to do his job. If he wastes time doing nothing he'll barely be able to see Virgil today. He gives the abnormality no time to question him before he gets to work.

Patton focuses on his work, his growing sleepiness slowing his movements slightly, but the coffee helped somewhat, making his foot tap as he worked, and that was enough to keep him conscious. He got the simple stuff over with fairly quickly, writing things down as he goes. 

"Good, your blood pressure is fairly normal." He speaks, mostly to himself. He then goes over to the counter, grabbing a swab. "Open wide!"

He forces some energy into his words, a tired smile on his face. Deceit rolled his eyes, but opened his mouth. Patton was surprised to see the inside. 

"Oh, woah." He marvels. His mouth was very… snakey, to put it simply. He noticed the curved teeth and… Another row of teeth. Did snakes actually have more than one row of teeth? Like a shark? He didn't know that. "You've got two rows of teeth!"

"Six, actually." Deceit explains, rolling his eyes. "Four rows on top, two on the bottom." He opens his mouth wider to show off. Patton can't help but think of Logan- he'd find this fascinating. Patton, meanwhile, was a little intimidated. 

"Funky!" He laughs, shaking his head. He takes note of this. "Uh, anyway! I'm gonna swab you now." 

"Mhm." He hums, disinterested as he holds his mouth open. Patton swabs his throat, and the snake recoils, coughing when he takes it out. 

"Sorry about that! I know its a weird feeling." Patton laughs. "While we're here, can I ask you a few questions about your, uh… Mouth?"

Deceit chuckles at that. "No." But then he makes a gesture that says 'go ahead'. Patton is confused. The snake rolls his eyes. "Just get on with it."

"Oh! Okay!" Patton laughs. "First of all, I noticed how small your teeth are- excluding your fangs… Are you able to, like, chew?"

"I have to swallow things whole." He shrugs. "So, no. I can't."

"Oh, huh!" Patton nods. He's a little surprised the snake is answering these so easily. "Do you produce venom?"

Deceit pauses at that one, looking at him with suspicion. Guess he jinxed it. 

"We can save that for later, right? Just take my blood." He sighs. 

"Ah, okay!"

Patton holds out Janus's arm- the one with less scales- and holds it straight and still. It's a little strained with Janus trying not to twitch. He's been doing surprisingly well at not twitching after he woke up. Maybe it's not as bad as he had thought? 

"This'll be cold." He warns, before spraying down where he's going to put the needle. The man hisses, but keeps mostly still, flinching back slightly, his free hand picking at the cotton of the seat. "It'll only hurt for a second."

And the needle goes in. The abnormality watched as the needle broke through his skin and to his vein. He watched Patton pull up the plunger, his blood going into the needle. Patton was a little surprised at how calm Deceit was. He had worked with kids before this, but he supposes he shouldn't be too surprised. He needs to stop thinking about the outside world. 

Putting a cotton pad over the needle, he pulls it out, any blood escaping soaking into the pad. Not much leaked out. He then places a bandage over that pad, keeping it in place. 

Patton puts the blood and saliva samples down on the counter carefully, making a quick message about them before returning to Deceit. He was staring at his arm where he got the needle, his expression unreadable. It was a little unsettling, but maybe Patton is just tired. That was probably it. 

The tests went on as normal as they could go. Neither of them spoke much unless Patton asked a question or gave instructions. It was a little strange how… normal it was. Obviously it wasn't, but it felt normal. 

"Alright, um… I'll need you to take off your shirt and pants. You don't have to strip completely." Patton stammers a bit, embarrassed, but the abnormality didn't seem all that bothered. Maybe what's really getting to Patton is how similar he is to Virgil. They're both human in form and nature, but with animal features. Patton is only a little glad that he isn't seeing Virgil, or else they'd both die of embarrassment.

But it was strange. He needs to see this abnormality as that. Just an abnormality. It'll make him feel bad, but he needs to put his discomfort away and do his job so he can get to Virgil as soon as he can! 

"You seem awfully calm about this." Patton jokes as the snake removes his shirt. Deceit just hums, sounding somewhat like a laugh, looking at the wall. Underneath was actually quite fascinating. Patton could imagine Logan's reaction to this. He had belly scutes going down his torso, starting at his neck. Alot of them didn't manage to reach out over his whole torso and neck, many stopping halfway through with jagged, uncomfortable looking edges. It was strange seeing the difference between the scales and the skin. He really wondered how they worked. He doesn't know a whole lot about reptiles, really. 

"Are you just going to keep staring?" He asks, looking rather annoyed. Patton shakes his head, laughing nervously. 

"Sorry! It's just neat, I haven't seen anything like this before." He rubs the back of his neck. 

"Mhm.." He hums, kicking his pants off. At first glance his legs looked normal, until you notice they're bent a bit stranger than normal. And, of course, the large claws. Scales crawled down his left leg, hints of his belly scutes there in his inner leg. It was a bit strange- the longer he looked, the more confusing it got for him. He shakes his head.

"Right. Okay." He huffs, writing down his notes and observations. Deceit seems uninterested, inspecting his claws on his hands. "That's really interesting!"

"Hm? What about it is interesting?" He asks, staring at the nurse. 

"Ah, well, I've never seen something like this before. It's pretty neat!" He laughs. "Um! Right! Questions. First of all, do you shed?"

Deceit stares, rolling his eyes. 

"Hm. Do I have to answer these questions?" He asks instead, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, you do. Sorry." He frowns. Deceit hums, staring. 

"And who is this information going to?"

"Ah… A, the higher ups, the medical team, and the containment team…" He rubs the back of his neck. 

"I see and what will happen to me if I don't answer?"

"Ah, well…" He looks away. He honestly isn't sure. "I don't know… probably something not fun."

Deceit hums again, thoughtful. "And how will you know if I lie about my answers?"

"That- I…" He stammers, unsure, eyebrows furrowing. 

"Well?" 

"I-I don't know. But if they find out you're lying we'll both probably be getting in trouble." He huffs, a headache growing. He adjusts his glasses, closing his eyes for a moment. He could feel the snake staring at him. He looks up, and indeed he was. His expression was blank, he had no idea what he could possibly be thinking. 

"Alright then, resume your questioning." He gestures for Patton to continue. 

"Right! Ah, what… did I ask you?"

"Oh, I have no idea." His voice was so taunting, a smirk growing on his face. He obviously knows. Patton is too tired for this. But he takes in a deep breath, keeping his composure. 

"Fine. Moving on then… Do you produce venom?"

"Yes."

"Can it kill people?"

"I don't know."

"You've never bit someone?"

"No comment."

Patton sighs, but writes this new information down. Is this how Logan and Roman feel dealing with annoying abnormalities? The ones he works with are in the department Virgil's in. And they're all pretty easy to work with. And any other abnormality he interacts with is just him helping them when they get injured.

"Right, okay. Since you produce venom, we'll need a sample from you." He turns to his cabinet. They'd already given him what he needed in case the abnormality did have venom. It was just a simple vial, with clear saran wrap over the top of it, held in place by a rubber band. 

"Okay. I need you to bite into the saran wrap with your fangs and eject your venom." He says simply, handing the vial to the snake. He rolls his eyes, muttering to himself, looking annoyed. But he takes the vial. His lips curl back, almost into a snarl, showing off his large fangs, and he punches them through the wrap with ease. Patton grimaces slightly. He forgot that snakes could move their jaws like that, but it looked so strange on a human shaped head. His eyes widen just a bit as he produces his venom, before relaxing. Patton noticed the way his pupils would move. A low hiss comes from the back of his throat. The venom drips from his fangs. And while it definitely doesn't fill the vial, he gives an impressive amount. About more than an inch. He wonders how dangerous this venom is, and how much you'd need for it to be lethal. Maybe only one drop is lethal. The thought made him shift uncomfortably. 

"Thank you." He says awkwardly, pulling on some rubber gloves and taking the vial, setting it down with the other samples. He takes the gloves off, throwing them away and thoroughly washing his hands before he makes a message. Soon someone would come to pick the samples up. 

Turning around, he finds the abnormality watching him. He was more hunched over, his tongue flicking out occasionally. His tail behind him was thumping gently against his seat. Once again, his face didn't give away what he was thinking, just blank and calculating. It reminded him of Logan. The two were actually pretty similar. Different, but similar. It was a little strange. 

"Right. Let's move on then-" Before he could move to get to work, another nurse comes in. 

"Very sorry to disturb you, but I've been informed to tell you that you should do the…" She looks over at Deceit, before looking back. "The unconscious examination right away."

This felt incredibly out of nowhere. Patton was taken aback, and Deceit's eyes widened. Patton vaguely sees his pupils thinning to slits. He doesn't think much of it. 

"Already? I haven't even done the X-rays yet!" He protests, confused and honestly worried. 

"You can do them while it's unconscious. We don't have all day." She punctuates her sentence by tapping on her watch. And before he could say anything more, she had already left the room. Patton stares at the closed door before turning to the snake, who also seemed confused and concerned. 

"I-I'm really sorry. You'll have to be asleep for the rest of this examination." He takes a step closer. Deceit hisses, recoiling back with his fangs on display. "Hey, hey, calm down. I won't hurt you."

But the words didn't seem to have any effect on him. He was more of an animal now, body bending unnatural as he backs away from Patton.

He was hunched in the corner, fangs on display and his pupils in thin slits. His neck almost looked longer, and his tail was curled around him in an almost defensive position. He really just looked like a cornered animal. 

"You won't feel a thing." He promises, his heart racing. He reaches a hand out, slowly and carefully, but that doesn't work on the snake. 

Before he could react, Deceit had striked, launching at his hand and biting down. Patton cries out, Trying desperately to push his face away and unlatch his jaw. He couldn't feel anything being injected into him, but the fear still remained- they haven't studied the venom yet, they had literally only just obtained it. 

Before long, others come in, immediately grabbing Deceit, but his jaw remained locked tight. Pattons yells out in pain before someone finally manages to unhinge his jaw and pull him away rather forcefully, leaving holes from where his teeth sank in and blood flowing from them- more blood than he had expected. He felt sick. He didn't know if it was because of the blood, or the shock, or maybe even he got venom in his system, but all of the blood left his face, and he broke out into a nervous sweat. He could barely process the others pinning down the abnormality, so harsh it'd probably bruise, and forcing him into sleep. 

He was hissing and struggling, thrashing around and it took a lot more people than Patton even realized to hold him down. Someone presses the mask to his face and holds it there. It only took a few seconds after the mask was put on for his struggling to slow, and his limbs eventually going limp. 

Patton was breathing heavily. What was going on? He doesn't know what to do- what if he dies? He can't die yet- he can't! He doesn't process being taken out of the room and rushed to another. Everything after that is a blur for him. 

* * *

"It's been a while, hasn't it, V?" A asks, standing in the doorway to Virgil's examination room. Virgil recoils, immediately baring his teeth. 

"It's  _ Virgil _ ." He spits out, sounding quite brave, although his body language said something completely different. He was scared. 

"Right, right. Well it isn't like it matters. V, Virgil, T-01-43(T). It doesn't matter now, does it?" He asks, stepping into the room and closing the door. He knows Virgil doesn't have good eyesight now, but he could see the flinch when the door closed. 

"What are you doing here?" He asks, long protruding legs stepping back in this cramped space. Most of them were on the wall. A hums, taking in his appearance. He's definitely changed since he last saw him. His condition is getting worse. The thought made him smile.

"What am I doing here? Well, I'm here for your examination of course." He steps forward. 

"Why you?! Isn't anyone else available?" He hisses, breath quickening. 

"Yes there is in fact. But I wanted to see you myself." He gives an almost fond smile. It'd look genuine if you didn't know who A was. No, that pretty smile was a monster. "Did you miss me, V?"

"No!" He almost yells that, before A shushes him, putting a finger to his lips. 

"Ah, quiet now. I don't want to make you unconscious just yet." He laughs, walking up to Virgil. "Strange, though. You used to adore me."

"Well, people change, A." He growls. 

"They do indeed. Look at you. You've changed so much." He gestures to Virgil. Legs, skin, eyes, teeth… He was completely different. But Virgil was still the same person, he just hated A now. He was more anxious as well. "Tell me. Was it worth it? Getting so close to that abnormality?"

"This is your fault! We both know that!"

"Is it now? Do you have any concrete evidence?" He asks. Virgil remains silent, scowling. "Oh, you're so angry now. You used to be so sweet."

"Yeah, that was before I knew you were a fucking monster." 

A laughs at that. 

"I'm the monster? Obviously you haven't looked in the mirror." At that, Virgil snarls, looking just about ready to strike. He holds his hands up in a mock surrender. "I wouldn't do that. If I get damaged or destroyed, you'll be coming down with me. They wouldn't let you get away with damaging me, you know."

Virgil is silent, curling back into the corner, his legs surrounding him, looking akin to a caged little bird. The sight made A smile. 

"Oh, V, even as a monster you never cease to captivate me." He sighs, stepping forward. Virgil was shaking at this point. Although he could easily overpower him, the AI towered over him as he cowered in the corner. They both know that Virgil could destroy A. But they both also know that something much worse will happen to Virgil if he does. It seems that both Virgil and Thomas are in this same predicament with him. 

"You're fucking sick." 

"Am I now? I don't think that's possible for me." He's teasing. They both know this. But only one of them is getting enjoyment from this. "You're the sick one, V. Look at yourself. Scared, and broken. I just want to fix you. I can make you feel better."

Virgil pants, trying to press himself deeper into the corner. "No! Stop it! I'm not going to fall for this!" 

The poor man looked on the verge of tears. The sight made A… oh so happy.

… Happy? No… no. He's just enjoying this. He doesn't have his emotions. Not anymore. But he could feel errors in his system. He ignores them this time. Surely they were nothing. 

"Oh, V…." He sighs, placing his cold hand onto the long, smooth spider leg. He runs his hand down, watching the tears spill over. "Is it painful?"

Virgil says nothing, lips sealed shut. He shakes his head, screwing his eyes shut. 

"Oh, Virgil." Out of his mouth comes a voice that isn't his. It's Patton's voice. It was almost perfect. "Kiddo, please look at me."

"Stop it!" He practically screams, covering his face and digging his nails into his hairline. 

"Everything will be okay." He doesn't stop, Patton's voice continuing to come from his mouth. His grip on the spider leg gets firmer. "So let me ask again. Does it hurt?"

"Y-Yes! I answered you, so stop it!"

"Oh, little stormcloud." Patton's voice continued, and he corners the spider further. His grip on his leg doesn't loosen. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. So look at me."

Virgil shakes his head like a stubborn child, nails digging harder into his skin. 

"Look at me or I'll break your leg." The voice was still Patton's. And Virgil felt sick hearing his voice be used by such a monster. 

He flinches, slowly dragging his hands away from his face and cracking his eyes open to look at A. And A smiles at him, much closer than needed. 

"There's my little spider." He still wears that smile, pulling his hand away from his leg and brushing some hair out of his face, staring into the spider's darkening eyes. It was deceivingly gentle. In the past, Virgil may have leaned into this touch. And A notices this change as well. He lets his touch linger, his hand going down to his jaw. He notices that the spider had gotten much thinner. He hums, shaking his head and pulling his hand away as he stands up, posture straightening.

"As much as I'd love to continue this…" His voice slowly slips back to normal. "We should get on with the examination." 

Virgil stares at him, eyes burning, anger and sadness distorting his face. 

"Hmm.. That's not a pretty face on you." A comments, tapping his fingers on the counter. "Sit down. I'll take good care of you."

"Fuck you." Virgil spits out, slowly standing from his spot. A only smiles at him, gesturing to the uncomfortable looking seat. 

When Virgil finally sits down, it's incredibly silent. The silence and tension weighed over Virgil's shoulders, tightening his throat. But A wasn't bothered at all. Why would he be? You'd think since Virgil is the spider, A would get caught in his web. But it seemed to be the other way around now. He loved this feeling.

But he should focus on his work. His work is more important than anything else. He shakes his head, pulling up a file in his head, going through it and nodding to himself.

"We already have your basics from when you were an employee, though we should collect more blood and saliva samples." A explains simply, as if he hadn't been mentally torturing Virgil just moments earlier. "I'll need you to be still for me."

He was furious, and A could see that. It was quite entertaining. It's too bad he won't see Virgil much at all after this. He hardly ever got any good fun. Though he supposes his work is more important than getting some sadistic pleasure in the spider's suffering. Yet, he still knows it'll be much more boring. Maybe he should get some fun out of this before he goes back to never seeing him again. 

It could give him information. That's what he'll tell himself. 

Surely he'll spill something if he pushes him enough, right? It'll be fine, then. 

"Open up." He says simply, grabbing his swab. Virgil glares at him. A matches him with a glare of his own, icy and cold on his colorless face. "Do you want me to force your mouth open? I can't promise I won't break your jaw. I always forget how fragile organic lifeforms are, you know."

"If you break my jaw, we both know it wouldn't be an accident." He growls. A laughs. 

"Oh, V, you're so funny." He laughs a bit more, before it's stopped abruptly by him getting serious again. "But enough of that. Open your mouth."

Virgil remembers a time when he was still human. Before all of that chaos that had happened. 

A was supposed to be an exact copy of Thomas. 

… 

Emotions and everything. 

What exactly went wrong? How did he turn into this? Well, he knows why, but...

A stares at him. They both remember this time. They were both affected, but in different ways. They both got worse, but in different ways. Very different ways. 

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" A muses, putting away the swab. "You think I don't know that face. I may be a new model, but I still know you, V."

They're both silent as A grabs the needle. 

"You should stop thinking about those useless things." He cleans the needle, even though it was already clean. "I don't understand why you still think about it. You weren't the one who was in pieces. It was for the best, anyway. Emotions got in the way of my work."

Virgil looks down, gripping onto the tough cushion of his seat, nails digging in. A stares at him, sighing. 

"I won't ever be my old self V. You know it'd be easier to hate me. Yet you can't because of those emotions." He muses, taking his arm and holding it out carefully, feeling for a vein. "Emotions won't help you. We both know this. Stop holding hope that I'll go back to being the failure I used to be."

Virgil sucks in air through his teeth, and A pokes the needle in. They're both silent, though A notices Virgil's shaking hand. He pulls in the plunger, and thick dark blood fills it. He pulls the needle out gently, putting a bandage over it. Virgil has to remind himself of what A himself said. 

There's no hope for him. He's tormenting himself with the past. Yet it still gave him whiplash, how gentle the AI was being with him. He reminds himself it's because he has to be gentle. There is no care left in the man in front of him. 

"Your blood is darker." A muses aloud as he cleans the needle. "It used to be a brighter color. Perhaps it's going to turn blue, like a spider's. That'd be fitting, wouldn't it?"

The thought was terrifying. He was slowly but surely turning into an arachnid. His sharp nails poke through the cushions, knuckles white. And A simply stared at him. He could see the suffering, and only stood and watched. Or well, he was doing something. But that something only treated Virgil as a test subject for the corporation's data. It didn't help him, though. 

He felt less and less human everyday. He's scared he'll forget that he was ever human at all. There's a possibility that'll actually happen, too. The thought haunts him. 

"Alright," A snaps him from his thoughts as he speaks, "Since that is over with, we'll start with the actual examination now."

He could feel his heartbeat race. 

"Let's look at the… big issue first." He stares at his neck, stepping forward. "Turn for me."

A stares at the lump on the back of his neck. The exoskeleton of the abnormality that had attacked him, burrowed into his skin. All around that area was a dark color. It was spreading more. He hums, running a finger down the exoskeleton, and Virgil's reaction was immediate. 

His eyes widened, pupils expanding and a hiss coming from his throat, venom dripping from his fangs and spilling from his lips. A keeps his hand there, intrigued by this reaction. It must make him lose some of his rationality. 

He hums, tapping on it. Virgil hisses louder, his fangs now extruding from his mouth, the venom dripping from his chin and onto his pants. A hums, taking his hand away. That seemed to calm him down a bit, but it was clear it'd take a while for him to fully settle. He was still in an almost animalistic state. 

He stares at the exoskeleton of the abnormality burrowed in his neck. He wonders if he could just rip it out, but that may risk Virgil's life, and that would risk losing valuable information.

"Oh, V… What a mystery you are." He hums, wiping the venom from his chin. It didn't seem like Virgil could understand any of what he's even saying. That was okay. He was shaking and hissing, legs moving in a strange pattern. 

He wanted to be able to talk to him more before he made him unconscious, but he wasn't responsive in this state anyway. 

A runs a hand down the long, smooth spider leg. Virgil hisses, more venom spitting from his mouth. He sighs, staring into his eyes. 

But this is interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind him. 

"Very sorry to-" A turns around, interrupting the woman speaking. She stares, eyes wide. He hums, raising an eyebrow, turning to her fully. 

"Go on." He says, staring at her. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. She stays quiet. He sighs, walking up to her. "Well?"

"I-I… It's nothing, sir!" She panics, stepping back. 

"It's clearly something. Out with it."

"I…" She gulps, taking another step back before bolting down the hallway. 

And he bolts after her. She was fast, but he was faster. However, she used the cluttered hallway to her advantage, pushing medical equipment over and running past confused nurses. A could calculate every move in his head. He was made to mostly sit back and do work, yes, but he was also programmed for situations like this- albeit more for abnormalities rather than rogue employees. She was breathing heavily, constantly looking back behind her as she weaved through people and turned sharp corners. A was close behind, only a few feet away from her. He was quite agile, and it didn't take long for him to catch up to her at the elevator, desperately pressing the down button. She turns to see A approaching, and draws out her gun, pointing it at him. 

A doesn't hesitate, drawing his gun and shooting her shoulder. She screams, falling to the floor and holding her shoulder, her gun skidding across the floor a few feet away from her. He picks up her gun, walking up to her, ignoring the confused employees who came out to see what was going on. She makes a desperate grab for his gun, which he pockets. He quickly grabs her arms, holding them behind her back and pressing her to the floor with his foot, restraining her. He takes his gun out, pointing it at her head. 

"Okay, lets try this again." He sighs, pressing the cold weapon to her temple. "What were you going to tell me? And why did you need to run and cause such a scene?"

She pants, struggling. A presses the gun harder against her temple. 

"I… was going to inform you… that you should do the unconscious examinations right away." She stammers. A hums, raising an eyebrow. A harmless thing when you first hear it, but after the scene she had caused and her desperate attempts to escape, it was immediately clear that this was not something to be taken lightly. Well, if she had told him that in the first place without running away, he would still know something is wrong.

"And who gave you those orders?"

"No one."

"So you planned this."

"Yes."

"What were your motives? What were you hoping to gain?"

She stays quiet, staring down the barrel of the gun. He raises an eyebrow. 

"I'll shoot you if you don't speak." He warns. She gulps, sweat gathering on her face, incredibly pale from what he assumes is fear. "Last chance."

She stays silent, tears gathering in her eyes. He sighs. 

"I didn't want to have to do this, you know. It just adds more work. But if you're going to take your secrets to the grave, then there's no use." 

Tears are streaming down her cheeks, and she's visibly shaking. He shakes his head, pulling the trigger, and blood splatters the floor, some getting onto A. Her body goes limp, teary eyes now unfocused. A stands up, sighing at the bloody mess, wiping some blood from his cheek.

"Someone come and clean this up." He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Silence fills the halls, some unlucky workers scooping up the dead body. He watches them leave, before turning around and going back to Virgil's examination room. 

The woman knew her fate was set when she saw A in that room. Even if she gave information she'd die anyway. Seems the plan had failed. Maybe it would have worked had Virgil been taken care of by someone else. None of them thought that A would be directly involved. 

… 

Seems another has died. 

* * *

This wasn't going as well as Thomas thought it would. He didn't expect someone to die today. He figured there'd be injury, yes, they are dealing with abnormalities after all… But this person died to A. Thomas didn't even know why she was killed. 

From what he gathered, she was a good employee… And she had a family outside of here. He wondered why she'd even accept this job, if she even chose this job in the first place. 

Not everyone who works here came because they were unlucky. Sometimes they'd send out scouts to be outside for a year to report abnormalities and recruit new workers. And some people would accept that. He wondered if she accepted, even though she had a family. It wouldn't be the first case of that, but it was still strange to Thomas. Just leaving your life behind like that. He wishes he could let them all see their families, or at least talk to them, but it'd be dangerous. 

Not because of the abnormalities or the possibility of the corporation being leaked to the public- or well, the latter was one of those threats. 

They'd paint a giant target on their backs if this was public. And with the state of the world right now, they know it'd be a dangerous move. Even letters could be risky. It was upsetting. He wishes he could do more for his employees. 

But everything is getting harder. It seems more and more abnormalities are appearing and while they have the money to build and add more onto the building, it would still take time to do all of that. They have a lot of abnormalities kept in metal crates without any supervision, and it was a dangerous gamble they were taking while the new rooms were being built. 

Alot of the abnormalities they've been getting have been quite deadly… And then there are the stranger ones. Some that came here of their own choice. Or well, one in particular. He wasn't sure what they were going to do with that one. 

Abnormalities can come into existence in so many different ways. Some with no known origin at all- just being birthed like that, he assumes. They still need to research that, how those sorts of abnormalities came into existence. 

There's just so much he needs to worry about, and it was quite the massive headache to deal with. He has no clue how A can handle all of this on his own. Yeah, he's an AI, but still. 

Thomas has a pile of paperwork in front of him. He supposes he shouldn't be surprised, given his absence. But it was still a lot. His head was hurting, and he felt like he'd been given a test he didn't know anything about. He had a massive migraine, and that was the least of his worries right now. 

He had many worries. So, so many worries. 

Looking over at the wall, Thomas sighs. He wishes there were at least some windows. He can feel himself getting more and more tired everyday. He was never really the outdoorsy type, but he still appreciated the outdoors and the sunlight. He appreciated it more after being here. He knows it's his own fault for not installing windows. But right now in the construction process, windows are the least of their worries. They  _ need  _ more rooms. It was getting cramped. Cramped with abnormalities and workers. He could already hear A's voice suggesting they just kill the employees they don't need. Thomas sighs out loud, hitting his head on his desk, groaning and keeping it there. It definitely didn't help his migraine any. 

This situation doesn't feel winnable. No matter what he does, it seems like he'll always be making the wrong move. A's got him in check mate by the looks of things. Thomas isn't the best chess player. 

This definitely isn't going well. He knows he can't do this alone, but who else is there? He isn't really sure. It feels like since he returned, no one is willing to work with him anymore. He did disappear… He guesses it sorta makes sense. 

He's never been good with debates, or logic games, or games of luck. He started this corporation to help the world. All he had were good intentions, and he's just now realizing how foolish it was. No matter what move he makes, someone will end up hurt. And it was… incredibly frustrating. 

He was so tired. He hasn't gotten much sleep lately. He sighs heavily, picking his head off of his hard desk and looking down at his paperwork. He doesn't know where to begin. He's so tired. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im super sorry for disappearing so soon after I got back!! Alot of things just suddenly got so hard after I posted the last chapter, and my mental state dropped. I'll hopefully be posting somewhat regularly now, but it seems my chapters just keep getting longer and longer! Thank you for reading, though! A few parts may be a bit messy, but after rereading it so many times I couldn't really focus on what was a mistake JDBSKDBNSBD.  
I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Here's some basics to help out! 
> 
> ABNORMALITIES  
Deceit classification code: O-01-62(H) (original, humanoid, HE)  
Virgil classification code: T-01-43(T) (trauma, humanoid, TETH)  
Remus classification code: F-06-54(W) (fairytale, amalgamation, WAW)
> 
> EMPLOYEES  
Thomas: The founder of the facility, though he is rarely seen.  
Logan: Top employee of the Information Team. Incredibly intelligent and good with abnormalities. Is not great with emotions, however, so he is often assigned tasks to abnormalities that do not require attachment.  
Roman: Employee of the Control Team. It's rumored that he only became an employee because his brother turned into an abnormality. While he does great at his job, especially with the abnormalities who require attachment, he is the only employee that subject Remus will not purposefully harm.  
Patton: A nurse for the corporation, and a minor employee for the security team. He doesn't work too often, but will do work with ZAYINs and TETHs mostly. 
> 
> AIs  
A (apathy): Head AI. Designed after the initial founder of the corporation, though is nothing like him in personality.  
Emile: Secretary and leading therapist/doctor for employees. Makes medicine and gasses that help with sanity retainment and relaxation with the abnormalities.  
Remy: Leader of the Control Team  
More AIs to be added in the future~


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